Karen Leek was bashed to death with a hammer by niece Jessie Moore

The niece of beloved greyhound trainer Karen Leek killed her with a hammer then went home for dinner with her boyfriend.

Details of the horrific killing of much-loved greyhound trainer Karen Leek have been revealed as her great niece faces court over her brutal murder.

A pre-sentencing hearing in the Supreme Court on Friday heard a hammer-wielding Jessie Moore, 25, whacked Ms Leek, 69, on the head at least 12 times as she sat down on the lounge to watch Home And Away at her Devon Meadows home on May 26 last year.

Wearing rubber gloves, Moore then tied a plastic bag around the head of her great aunt.

Moore’s young daughter was in a nearby room and heard yelling and swearing before the killing.

Jessie Moore has admitted to killing her aunt. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Karen Leek was well known in greyhound racing circles.

The heavily pregnant mother then put the hammer, gloves and Ms Leek’s phone and car keys into a plastic bag, which were later found hidden in her child’s bedroom at the Berwick home she had moved into with her boyfriend days before the murder.

She then grabbed her daughter and left the murder scene, stopping at 7/11 to grab cigarettes, before going home.

Her boyfriend told police she seemed “fine” that night, and that they even went out to get KFC together.

The next morning Moore put her daughter in the car, stopped at 7/11 for slushies, before returning to Ms Leek’s home.

Neighbours left tributes at Ms Leek’s home following the discovery of her body. Picture: Tony Gough

She called police soon after arriving to report she had found her great aunt dead, later telling detectives she “wouldn’t have a clue” who would hurt Ms Leek.

Moore has pleaded guilty to one count of murder, spurred on as tensions ran high among who should look after her daughter.

The court heard Ms Leek’s kind heart and generosity had seen her take in a troubled Moore and her daughter at her home.

But Moore was heavily pregnant with her second child and as she left her daughter with her great aunt more and more and was involved in drugs, their relationship became “hostile”.

So much so, Ms Leek had asked Moore to leave.

On May 22, Moore moved in with her boyfriend in Berwick.

The court heard Moore had written in her diary of her hatred towards Ms Leek and other family members.

The hearing, before Justice Paul Coghlan, continues.