A POLICE officer accused of helping her son to cover his tracks after he allegedly murdered his girlfriend told a court he was innocent.

Melda Wilks is accused of allowing Ricardo Morrison to wash his clothes at her home in Birmingham, just hours after Amy Barnes was stabbed to death in Bolton.

Wilks told Manchester Crown Court her son swore on her and his sister’s life that he had not harmed the 19-year-old model.

“He has never done that before and that was very powerful. I believed him. He looked very sad. I was very emotional and I was crying with relief when I saw my son,” she told the jury.

Amy was discovered at the house she shared with Morrison in Moss Street, Farnworth, by her father on November 8 last year. She had managed to dial 999 and ask for help and was still conscious, but died from stab wounds at the Royal Bolton Hospital later that day.

Morrison has previously told the court he returned to the house, having been to the bank, and found Amy slumped at the bottom of the stairs.

He said he put her in the recovery position before panicking and going to a church to pray for her. He then caught a train to Birmingham, where he was met by his mother.

The court heard Morrison was picked up by Wilks — who had received a call from Amy’s parents accusing him of the attack — at around 6pm.

Wilks said: “I went up to him and I said ‘Did you hurt Amy? Did you hurt her in any way.’ He said ‘No mum. On your life and my sister’s life’.”

Morrison told his mother he had argued with Amy earlier in the day. He then washed his clothes at her home.

Stuart Driver, prosecuting, said to Wilks: “When he asked you if he could wash his clothes, why didn’t you say no? Why did you not say ‘Son, don’t wash them, they will prove your innocence or it will look really suspicious’.”

She replied: “With hindsight, yes, I should have said that, but I believed that my son had not done anything wrong.”

Mr Driver then asked Wilks, aged 50, a serving police officer since 1980, why she did not take her son to the police station. “It was your duty to take him immediately,” the prosecutor said.

Wilks replied: “I disagree with that. I did not believe my son had done anything.”

Mr Driver said: “I suggest you are protecting your son and that you permitted him to wash his clothes and get changed in the belief that he committed a criminal offence.”

“That’s not correct sir,” she said.

Morrison denies murder. Wilks denies assisting an offender.

The case continues.