A FORMER Chaddesley Corbett woman who banked drug profits for the boyfriend she later killed has walked free after an Old Bailey judge said she had given her "pound of flesh".

Emma Protheroe, 20, was repeatedly battered by James Martin, 23, a body builder and cocaine dealer.

She caught him with another woman and plunged a steak knife into his neck in the violent row that followed.

Protheroe claimed self-defence and was cleared of murder and manslaughter.

While police were investigating the murder, Protheroe told her solicitor she had walked into the Halifax with £45,000 in used notes to open an account for Mr Martin.

Protheroe, who was 17 at the time, said four days later she was given another £5,000 to put in the same account.

The solicitors informed the police and Protheroe was tried again for handling the drugs money.

Judge David Paget QC suggested the prosecution should reconsider its position on the second day of the trial.

"When she was arrested for murder, she voluntarily told the police about the money, making it clear she had no claim to it," he said.

"I wonder what possible public interest is to be served by prosecuting the case."

The money will be confiscated by the Government and the judge added: "It seems to me the state has had its pound of flesh - £50,000 plus interest."

Protheroe's barrister Vera Baird, QC, told the court she "bitterly regretted" the second case ever coming to trial.

She said the prosecution had suggested Protheroe had exaggerated her injuries.

But police had a report from a psychiatrist Fiona Mason which stated Protheroe was suffering from "battered woman syndrome".

Victims of the condition are repulsed by the physical abuse they receive from their partners but feel unable to leave.

"It is a huge pity this woman has had to live in the shadow of this prosecution since September when she was cleared of murder and manslaughter," Ms Baird said.

The QC said she had written to the Crown Prosecution Service three times informing them there could be "no conceivable public interest" in a second trial.

After hearing the judge's comments, prosecutor Andrew Copeland said: "Adopting a practical approach, the course the Crown are seeking to adopt is to offer no further evidence."

The jury formally returned not guilty verdicts and Protheroe, who has no previous convictions, was cleared.

Protheroe was living at The Birches, Woodrow Lane, Chaddesley Corbett, near Kidderminster.

She is now understood to have returned to the flat she once shared with Mr Martin in south east London.