Valda Webb was called as a witness on Wednesday in the trial of Kate Stone.

Ms Stone, 41, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her 45-year-old partner Darren Reid, who died from severe burns he suffered at the couple’s Long Gully home on December 18, 2016.

Read more: Day 1 - Murder trial begins for woman accused of setting partner alight

Under questioning from Crown prosecutor Melissa Mahady, Ms Webb told the court she received a phone call from her son on the morning of November 7, 2016.

She said Mr Reid told her he was calling reverse-charge from a public pay phone because he had been locked out of the house by Ms Stone. Ms Webb said her son told her that Ms Stone chased him down the road with a carving knife about 3am.

She told the court her son said, “I’m really scared, Mum, I’m in fear for my life”, and asked her to keep her phones close and await a call from the police.

She said she wanted to pick Mr Reid up, but he did not want her to do that, nor contact police.

During cross-examination from Ms Stone’s defence counsel Peter Kilduff, Ms Webb said her son told her that at the time he was allegedly chased by Ms Stone, police were “down the road”, near his house.

The court heard Ms Webb saw later that day, November 7, on the news that a person was murdered in Long Gully.

Mr Kilduff suggested to Ms Webb that if what she said had occurred, she would have called police straight away upon hearing news of a murder in the same suburb in which her son lived.

But she said the two incidents were separate and she knew her son was safe, because he told her of something happening down the street.

After Ms Webb’s evidence, Justice Lesley Taylor instructed the jury to note that statements made out of court, as Mr Reid’s were, were potentially unreliable, as out-of-court statements could be recalled incorrectly and the jury was unable to assess the credibility of their source.

The court also heard evidence from Mr Reid’s sister Janyne Auditori about a visit she received from Ms Stone and her two daughters the night of the fatal fire.

Ms Auditori said Ms Stone arrived at her home about 2am on December 19, banging on the door.

She said Ms Stone told her Mr Reid was burnt and a man named ‘Braxton’ did it, because of an earlier incident at the park involving Mr Reid and Ms Stone’s son.

In response to questioning from Mr Kilduff, Ms Auditori said she was certain the name Ms Stone gave that night was ‘Braxton’ and not possibly, as suggested, ‘Baxter’.

Ms Auditori told the court Ms Stone said a couple of other men had also come to the home when Mr Reid was attacked.

She confirmed the evidence she gave in her statement that Ms Stone told her ‘Braxton’ was three days out of jail.

During Mr Kilduff’s cross-examination, Ms Auditori confirmed she said in her police statement that a doctor told the family after the incident that Mr Reid’s organs were failing and life support was keeping him alive.

The court heard Ms Auditori said in this statement that Ms Stone wanted to go to a solicitor and “keep (Ms Auditori) on her side to fight to keep Darren alive”, and threatened to sue the doctor if he died.

Ms Auditori said in her statement that Ms Stone thought the doctors were giving up and wanted 24 hours more with him.

Mr Reid’s stepmother Norma Auditori told the court the deceased man visited her at home the day he suffered his fatal injuries, and said he was not happy with Ms Stone and was leaving her.

She said he asked her before leaving her house to go to his home and did not speak to him on the phone.

But during cross-examination from Mr Kilduff, Ms Auditori said he called her, as per her police statement, and Ms Stone visited her at home.

The court heard Ms Auditori told police that Mr Reid called her because he was worried Ms Stone was dead.

Ms Auditori told the court she and her daughter Maxine Harradine went to Mr Reid and Ms Stone’s home that night, and Ms Auditori found Ms Stone on a couch inside with her daughter wiping her face with a wet cloth.

She said she asked the daughter what was wrong, and she replied Ms Stone was not well, but declined a suggestion to call an ambulance.

That same evening, Ms Auditori said, she and Mr Reid had a conversation and he told her he’d “had enough” of Ms Stone and was leaving her.

Ms Auditori said she and Ms Harradine left the house and Mr Reid told her he would come over to her place soon, but he did not arrive and did not answer multiple phone calls.

She said Ms Stone arrived about 2am to tell her Mr Reid had a heart attack and was being flown to Melbourne.

In her statement, Ms Auditori said Ms Stone told her Mr Reid was bashed, but she told the court on Wednesday her memory was that Ms Stone said he’d had a heart attack.

Ms Harradine told the court that Mr Reid was emotional and worried for Ms Stone on the night of December 18 because she “wasn’t normal”, when she and her mother arrived at the home.

She said during a later conversation that night Mr Reid was “scared, he said something bad was going to happen that night”, but did not elaborate on whether that involved Ms Stone.

Ms Harradine told the court the plan that night was for her to ring Mr Reid within half an hour of leaving the house to see if he was ready to be picked up to spend the night at Ms Auditori’s.

But despite multiple calls from her and Ms Auditori, she said, Mr Reid could not be reached. She said the last call was made about 1am.

During Mr Kilduff’s cross-examination, Ms Harradine said she knew of a Jason Baxter.

The trial continues before Justice Taylor in Bendigo.

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