THE former lover of a woman accused of trying to murder her sister in bid to cover up stealing from her company, described her as a convincing liar in court.

Cathy Bartlett is accused of starting a fire intended to kill her sister Rachael at their mother's house in Bartley where Rachael was staying in the early house of April 7.

The prosecution claims that it was in an effort to stop her sister finding out that Bartlett had plundered £100,000 through her position as finance manager of the company owned by Rachael.

Bartlett allegedly spent the money on buying tickets to football and rugby matches along with festivals and hotel stays for her and her friends including her former lover Julian Lane.

Mr Lane, a tug boat worker at Fawley, described their relationship as being 'friends with benefits."

He said that from the start Bartlett gave him electrical goods including an iPad, a television and a GoPro which Bartlett claimed to have got free through work.

She also treated him and his son to days out at football matches saying they too were through her work contacts. Mr Lane told jurors how he and on occasions his friends stayed overnight at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton after being told the bill "would be wiped".

He said by the end of the relationship it "was getting too much" and they eventually fell out.

Asked to describe her by prosecutor Charlie Gabb, Mr Lane said:"She tells a lot of lies, she's very feisty, loud and obsessive and quite needy." Asked if she was a convincing liar, Mr Lane replied: "Yes, very."

Earlier in the day Rachael had faced cross examination over her account of events by defence counsel Andy Houston.

He suggested that it was she who started the fire. He proposed that while Bartlett was sleeping Rachael drove over to pick up a can of petrol from her dad's shed and then doused the stairs with it and set it alight.

When asked how she felt about that suggestion, which she denied, she said: "I am not surprised because that is the picture she has painted of me to people."

Mr Houston put it to Rachael that she had told her mother that she would throw a party if her sister was convicted of the charges against her.

Rachael said she had, adding:"I was angry, I had been in two fires."

She was then asked about a conversation her father had allegedly organised between the sisters after Bartlett had been arrested. In it Rachael previously told the court her sister had apologised for taking her money and that of her father, who Bartlett had also stolen money from.

Rachael denied the suggestion that Bartlett only apologised for taking her dads money, which Rachael estimated to be some £80,000.

She also admitted considering a suggestion by her father to take the blame for the fire instead of her sister.

Rachael told jurors: "I considered it yeah. When you love someone unconditionally, and miss her and I didn't want my parents to be heartbroken.

"I did come to my senses and spoke to a friend who told me not to be so stupid."

Bartlett, 30, denies attempted murder, arson with intent to endanger life and ten counts of fraud.

Proceeding