Key Events So Far 1 hour ago TRIAL RESUMES 5 hours ago ALISON WILSON MURDER TRIAL 16:05 EMOTIONAL
Mr Birkett asks if during the evening Duggan had been talking about his job.
Miss Gwillam says he had and at the start of the evening had sounded “really positive” and looking forward to it.
She is asked if there had been any conversation between Duggan and his dad about their past and his childhood. She says there had.
She is asked if this led to Duggan becoming emotional.
Miss Gwillam says: “I can![’]()
t remember him getting emotional.”
She was watching TV. She says she remembers one bit when Duggan got up and hugged his dad but that is it.
Miss Gwillam![’]()
s evidence has finished and with that the trial has concluded for today.
Thank you for following my live updates. The trial will resume tomorrow morning.
16:02 ANGRY
Mr Birkett is now asking questions.
Miss Gwillam says Duggan was angry when she was trying to arrange for a taxi for the three of them.
She says the baby was in the car seat and she anticipated the three of them leaving together.
The witness says she did not see Duggan with the baby bag.
She agrees the defendant left first.
The witness says her partner asked him to leave. She can![’]()
t remember if she did.
She accepts that he left without any difficulty.
Miss Gwillam accepts that the woman left moments later carrying the baby in the car seat.
Mr Birkett asks about when they returned.
Miss Gwillam says the baby was no longer in the car seat and was being carried by Duggan.
She can![’]()
t remember if the woman had the car seat with her or not.
She says her partner let the woman back in. She made a 999 call after Duggan had come back and she had grabbed the baby.
The woman and baby were in the room when she called 999. Duggan had left.
15:54 Neil Docking INJURED BABY
Miss Gwillam says the woman took the baby with her, wrapped up warm in a car seat.
She got a call from the taxi she had ordered and thought they had got the taxi.
She was washing the dishes and heard shouting outside.
Miss Gwillam went to tell Mr Duggan because she didn![’]()
t want them waking the neighbours up.She says the woman returned to the flat.
He says she saw her “with a bruised face” and black eye to her left eye.
She says she was “frantic, screaming, shouting”.
She is asked what she was saying. The witness says she can![’]()
t remember.
Mr Cole asks if she saw Duggan again.
She says she asked where the baby was and the woman said she didn![’]()
t know.
Miss Gwillam asked Duggan to give her the baby who was in his arms and he said no.
She says the baby was not in the car seat as she expected. She asked for the baby and he refused to hand the baby over.
The witness says she snatched the baby off him and “kicked him and told him to go and go and go until he got out”. She says she does not know where she kicked him but it was at the bottom of the stairs by the door.
She says the baby was crying and screaming. “His little face was all![…]()
”
She breaks down in tears.
15:49 Neil Docking ARGUMENT
Miss Gwillam says they had a Chinese takeaway.
She says atmosphere up until 10.30pm was okay but it changed.
The witness says: “Stephen started to get obnoxious. He was being quite rude to her.”
Miss Gwillam says she did not like it and went to the kitchen.
She had been drinking a different bottle of wine.
Miss Gwillam recalls after the argument a discussion about calling a taxi between Duggan and the woman down in the hallway by the front door.
She says she said she would call a taxi from the house phone but Duggan swore at her. She says he said: “I![’]()
ll ring my own f***ing taxi.”
The witness says Duggan “stormed out” of the flat and she told the woman not to go after him. “Before we knew it he had gone.”
Miss Gwillam says she said this because he was angry.
Mr Cole asks how this made her feel.
She replies: “Frightened, I didn![’]()
t like it. I don![’]()
t like confrontations.”
15:44 Neil Docking JULIA GWILLAM
The next witness to give evidence is Mr Duggan![’]()
s partner Julia Gwillam.
Mr Cole is asking questions. He says he will not be very long.
She says she was living with Mr Duggan in Bell House Road in Widnes in their upstairs flat.
She confirms her partner had re-established contact with his son and was helping him with work training.
She says they came round on Saturday, March 7 with the woman and the baby.Miss Gwillam says she had met the woman briefly once before.
She is asked what happened to the bottle of wine brought to the flat by Duggan.She thinks it was taken out of the carrier bag by someone else and put on the side.
Miss Gwillam did not drink it. She says it was put with other bottles of wine in the kitchen.
15:40 Neil Docking BABY’S BAG
Mr Cole asks about the baby![’]()
s black bag that Mr Duggan recalls seeing his son carrying out of the flat.
He shows a bag in court which is produced from exhibits.
Mr Duggan says this bag is dark blue, but he thought the bag was black.
Mr Duggan![’]()
s evidence has come to an end.
15:37 Neil Docking AFTERMATH
Mr Duggan says the next thing he was aware of was when the woman came back.
He says the woman went up into the living room.
Mr Duggan says he stood at the top of the stairs and his son was at the bottom of the stairs.
He says he did not personally have any conversation with him.
Mr Birkett asks how many bottles of wine were in the flat before his son left and when he returned.
Mr Duggan says he does not know. He is not sure how many were in the flat beforehand.
Mr Birkett asks: “Are you able to say whether the bottle Stephen had brought to the flat from Tescos was or was not still there?”
Mr Duggan says he is not sure. He thinks it had been taken out of a bag and put on the side with other bottles.
15:37 Neil Docking WINE
They had gone to Tesco together to buy lime to go with their beer.
Duggan bought wine because he did not want to arrive empty-handed.
The brand of Echo Falls wine was Mr Duggan![’]()
s favourite drink at the time.
Mr Birkett says his client bought one bottle and carried it in a Tesco bag.
Mr Duggan says he picked up his son, the woman and the baby, went to Tesco then went back to his home.
He says he lives in a first floor flat. It is accessed by a flight of stairs from the front door.
They got some food and over the evening the atmosphere changed.
Mr Birkett asks if he spent time with Stephen talking about things in the kitchen, talking about what time he had as a child when he was not there.
Mr Duggan says he does not remember this. He is not certain.
The court hears there was an argument and Stephen left.
Mr Duggan did not see his son leave or exactly what he took from the house.
He says: “I think he was carrying the baby![’]()
s bag which was a black bag, but you couldn![’]()
t see what was in it.”
Mr Birkett says he did not see his son carrying anything else. Mr Duggan agrees.
15:30 Neil Docking CROSS EXAMINATION
Peter Birkett, QC, representing Duggan, is now asking questions.
Mr Duggan confirms that he did not see the actual incident where Ms Wilson was killed.
He says his relationship broke up with his son![’]()
s mum when his son was about two.
He accepts he only saw him occasionally in the years afterwards and stopped seeing him altogether when he was at primary school.
The court hears Duggan![’]()
s mum was with a new partner and for many years there was no contact between him and his dad.
During the time of this incident their relationship was starting afresh.
He says he wanted to see whether he could be part of his life again.
Mr Duggan says he was helping his son to find work and achieve qualifications.
He agrees that he hoped this evening in question would be a pleasant and natural get together.
15:26 Neil Docking BABY INJURED
He says his partner suggested calling the police.
Mr Duggan is not sure whether he had shut the front door properly.
He heard something at the bottom of the stairs. His partner went down.
Mr Duggan says he saw Stephen for a split second.
He says his partner had got him out the door.
Mr Duggan says his partner came up the stairs with the baby who was injured.
He says he noticed a bloody nose. He says he had a bump like a graze to his head.
15:26 Neil Docking DUGGAN LEAVES
Mr Duggan says he did not actually see his son go out of the door.
He is asked by Mr Cole how he would describe his son![’]()
s mood.
He says: “His mood to me seemed angry and annoyed.”
Mr Duggan says the woman left after Stephen with her baby.
He is asked whether he saw them again.
Mr Duggan says: “I remember going to bed and Julia was clearly not speaking because the night was a disaster.
“Julia shouted to me the words ![‘]()
they![’]()
re arguing in the street![’]()
.
“I was thinking to myself ![‘]()
I hope it![’]()
s not them, I hope it![’]()
s someone else.![’]()
“She had a huge black eye. A swollen eye. She shot past me and went up the stairs.
“She was hysterical. Crying.
“She went past me up the stairs. It dawned on me how bad the eye was. It was large. The first thing we were saying is ![‘]()
oh my God has he done this?![’]()
”
15:17 Neil Docking EVENING
Mr Cole asks how the evening went.
Mr Duggan says he and his son had two bottles of Desperado beer each.
He says: “Once we had the two bottles of Desperado we started to drink wine.”
The court hears they were drinking Echo Falls wine.
He says all four adults in the house were drinking and the mood was good.
Mr Duggan says “everything seemed to be fine”.
He is asked did the mood change.
“Yes it did,” he replies. Mr Cole asks in what sense.
Mr Duggan says: “Stephen![’]()
s mood changed.”
He says he was arguing with the woman and it was “embarrassing”.
He says: “Everything went downhill from there.”
Mr Duggan tells the jury the evening was meant to be a celebration but the mood changed and it embarrassed him because his partner had only met his son four times before.
He says his partner left the room to eat her dinner in another room because she was “disgusted”.
Mr Duggan says he recalled saying “let![’]()
s call it a night” and arranged to get a taxi for Stephen, the woman and the baby to take them home.
He says his son swore. He says: “I think the response was ![‘]()
I![’]()
ll ring my own f***ing taxi![’]()
.”
15:11 Neil Docking FIRST WITNESS
The first witness is Gary Duggan, the defendant![’]()
s dad.
He split up with the defendant![’]()
s mum some time ago.
Mr Duggan is a qualified pylon painter and helped his son train in the same line of work.
He and his partner live together in Widnes.
Mr Duggan had collected his son from his home on Saturday, March 7, spent some time at a lock-up, where he was working.
They spent some time together, and he dropped him back off at home at around 3pm.
He picked him up later and they went and bought a bottle of wine and headed back to his house.
15:11 Neil Docking FORENSIC INVESTIGATION
Mr Cole says because of the severity of the injuries the scene in Frank Street was secured to allow forensic teams to investigate.
He says swabs of blood staining were taken from the street and glass fragments were recovered from the road.
The forensic examination revealed that they were assaulted by the bottle in that area.
Duggan was arrested and interviewed by police.
Mr Cole says that is the conclusion of him outlining the case.
15:08 Neil Docking POST-MORTEM
Mr Cole says a post mortem examination by a consultant pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers found the injury to Ms Wilson was “focused” – meaning her injury was consistent with a broken bottle striking that area of her neck, “the likely mechanism being the thrusting of a broken bottle into her neck”.
He says Mr Rodgers also looked at Mr Tomlinson![’]()
s injuries, to the forehead and left side of his face.
The Crown say these were caused by two separate blows, one to the forehead “which is likely to have caused the bottle to break”, then a separate “thrusting of a broken bottle towards the face”.
15:07 Neil Docking CARDIAC ARRESTS
Mr Cole says Ms Wilson had a cut to her main jugular vein on the left side of her neck.
Medical intervention could not prevent her having multiple cardiac arrests because of the huge blood loss and she died on March 13.
She was 36-years-old, 166cms tall and weighed 104kgs.
15:06 Neil Docking WANTED
Duggan had left Bell House Road but was circulated by the police as being wanted.
At around 1.52pm police officers on patrol in Milton Road, Widnes saw the defendant riding a bike.
They asked him to stop but he didn![’]()
t. Mr Cole says one of the officers was able to push him off his bike and he was arrested and taken to Widnes Police Station, which was only 300 yards away.
15:06 Neil Docking GAPING WOUND
The court hears paramedics also saw Mr Tomlinson, who had facial injuries and wounds.
Mr Cole says: “The actual cut had gone clean through, completely through his cheek. There was a gaping wound.”
Another paramedic went to Bell House Road later where he saw the woman and her baby.
Mr Cole says the woman had “a clear injury to her left eye – described as badly swollen and blood bruised.”
He says the baby had obvious facial injuries “a swollen nose, a swollen lip and a swollen jaw”.
They too were taken by ambulance to hospital.
15:04 Neil Docking CATASTROPHIC INJURY
Paramedics arrived by ambulance at around 11.42pm and tried to help Ms Wilson before taking her to Whiston Hospital at 11.59pm.
Mr Cole says: “They were aware that Alison had sustained what they the paramedics described very early after arriving as a catastrophic injury.”
Neil Docking TRIAL RESUMES
The trial is resuming after a delay.
A neighbour who lives in Frank Street had called 999 having heard the argument at around 11.23pm.
Paramedics and police arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.
Mr Cole says two police officers arrived and tried to help.
He says they noticed broken glass on the floor, one piece with the label Echo Falls.
12:58 LUNCH
We are breaking for lunch. The prosecution opening will resume at 2.15pm.
Thanks for following my updates.
12:57 BLOOD
Mr Cole says that Mr Tomlinson had his takeaway in one hand and Ms Wilson![’]()
s handbag in the other hand.
He says: “It seems he did not think for one moment either he or Alison would be attacked.
“When he was hit he remembers a cold liquid sensation and presumed he had been hit by a bottle.
“The blow caused him to be knocked fell to the ground, even if not completely unconscious, then certainly in a way that left him out of it.
“When he became more aware he saw Alison holding her hand on her neck and he saw blood coming between her fingers.”
Mr Cole says he immediately rang 999.
12:57 “MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Mr Cole says there were two separate assaults – one to Mr Tomlinson and one to Ms Wilson that were both “deliberate and unprovoked”.
He says it was “a man who had lost his temper and had used a bottle to fatally injure Alison Wilson and seriously injure Anthony Tomlinson”.
Mr Cole says: “As he hit Alison in what was clearly a forceful way, the woman he was with screamed out something like “oh my God what are you doing?”
The court hears that having seen these assaults the woman started to run with the baby back in the car seat.
She was followed by Duggan who caught up with her and directed her back to his dad![’]()
s house in Bell House Road.
12:57 POLE-AXED
The court hears Ms Wilson got out of the taxi and went over to try and calm things down.
She was not able to stop the arguing and asked Mr Tomlinson to pay the taxi. He did and took the takeaway and her handbag over to her.
Mr Cole says during these events the woman was punched by Duggan, who admits this assault.
He says Mr Tomlinson may have asked or said something like what was happening, because the defendant was heard to say “never mind what I![’]()
m f***ing doing, what are you f***ing doing poking your nose into my business?”
Mr Cole says Duggan was “aggressive” to Mr Tomlinson, walked towards him taking maybe as many as four steps, stepping off the pavement into the road and striking him to the left side of the head.
He says: “He was knocked to the floor, like he was pole-axed.
“Having hit Anthony Tomlinson the defendant turned towards Alison Wilson in what we say was a separate movement struck her to the neck causing her to stumble backwards and then fell to the ground.”
12:56 CONCERN FOR BABY
The court hears that the taxi driver Mr Horrocks could hear the woman shouting at Duggan.
He says: “Because of the arguing and the apparent pulling on the car seat in which the baby was being carried, all those in the taxi, which by now included Anthony Tomlinson and Alison, were concerned for the safety of the baby.”
Having seen what was happening in nearby Frank Street, Mr Cole says Mr Tomlinson suggested the taxi slow down and shouted something like: “Is everything okay? What![’]()
s going on?” before suggesting he should go and try to calm things down.
Mr Cole says: “In fact Alison Wilson suggested it would be better iif she went to calm things down.
“She was a mother of two children of her own. She thought it would be less intimidating if she got from the taxi and went to calm things down. That![’]()
s what she did.”
12:51 NIGHT OUT
The court hears that while this was going on Alison Wilson and Anthony Tomlinson had been in the Church View pub in Widnes, having got there at around 8pm.
They left at 11pm to go for a takeaway and got a taxi to pick them up, which was being driven by Philip Horrocks.
Mr Horrocks took them to the Golden Dragon takeaway in Page Lane before heading to Castle Street in Widnes.
Mr Cole says Mr Tomlinson went into the takeaway at around the same time Duggan met Mr Smith and started talking to him on the steps of a bridge.
12:49 HEATED ARGUMENT
Duggan left the house taking with him a baby changing bag. He also took a bottle of wine.
Mr Cole says he met a man called Mark Smith near Halton View Bridge and started talking as they recognised each other, but did not know each other by name.
As they were talking the woman who had followed Duggan from the house came over carrying the baby in the car seat.
Mr Cole says they started to argue again “in what was a very heated argument”.
12:49 ARGUMENTATIVE AND AGGRESSIVE
Mr Cole says as the evening wore on and after a takeaway and a few drinks the atmosphere changed between Duggan and the woman, and him and his dad and his partner.
He says by this time Duggan had been drinking bottles of Desperado beer as well as wine.
He says: “The defendant![’]()
s mood changed and he became argumentative and aggressive.”
Mr Cole says at about 10.30pm his dad and Ms Gwillam decided to go to bed and arrangements were being made to call a taxi for Duggan.
But he says before the taxi arrived Duggan “stormed off in a mood from that house”.
The court hears that as he tried to leave, Duggan tried to take the baby with him but was prevented from doing so by the woman.
At the time the baby was asleep in a car seat.
12:47 BACKGROUND
The court hears that Duggan is now 28-years-old. He says he is originally from the Victoria Park area of Widnes. He was living in Water Street, Runcorn.
At around 6pm on Saturday, March 7, Duggan along with a woman and a baby were collected by his dad Gary Duggan in a car and taken to Widnes.
They stopped at the Tesco supermarket in Lugsdale Road in Widnes where the defendant and his dad bought some wine – a bottle of Echo Falls red wine.
Mr Cole says they were celebrating Duggan completing some training and having all but secured a new job with a company which his dad Gary worked for.
Gary Duggan and his partner Julia Gwillam live in Bell House Lane in Widnes. The group made their way to the address, arriving between 6.15pm and 6.30pm.
12:47 LOST TEMPER
Mr Cole says: “We say that night this defendant was the aggressor. We say it was he who lost his temper, it was he who deliberately attacked both Alison Wilson and Anthony Tomlinson and he inflicted more than one blow.
“We say in relation to Anthony Tomlinson two blows, one to his head and face, and one blow to Alison Wilson. This was not some sort of accident as he may seek to make out.
“We say that to use a bottle as he did with the force and such deliberations shows that at the time he lost his temper he intended really serious harm.
“He used that bottle as a weapon to severely injure one person and to actually kill Alison Wilson.
“We say to use a bottle to the head or neck when she presented no threat whatsoever shows how he had lost his temper and shows he intended to cause her really serious harm.
“There were no threats issued, there was no warning. His immediate decision was to use the bottle as a weapon.”
Mr Cole says the evidence is “compelling”.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/
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