Key Events So Far 16:03 Jonathan Humphries Cross examination
Mr Birkett suggests that Mr Lewis was being asked if his conclusions were being drawn from the suggestion that the bag was only swung in one single motion.
Mr Lewis agrees.
PB: “That was the scenario that you were considering?”
RL: “Yes.”
PB: “But you make it clear that your investigation took place with no knowledge of the carrier bag, no knowledge of the quantity of wine in the bottle, and no knowledge of the motion used by Mr Duggan?”
RL: “Yes.”
Mr Lewis asks if he was asked to consider the evidence of Julie Mercer, who said she saw Duggan swing a plastic bag containing a bottle.
He says he was not.
Mr Birkett asks about the fluid found on Duggan
s jacket.
Mr Lewis says he was unable to confirm whether this was wine.
That concludes Mr Lewiss evidence.
Mr Cole says that is the end of live witnesses for the prosecution.
Mr Justice Holroyde adjourns the case until 10am tomorrow
15:54 Jonathan Humphries Proceedings back underway
Judge Holroyde is back in court and the jury have returned to their seats.
Mr Cole calls Robert Lewis to the witness stand. Mr Lewis is a forensic scientist.
He specialised in examination of glass fragments from the scene of Miss Wilsons fatal injuries.
Mr Cole asks about specific samples of glass found at the scene on Frank Street.
Mr Lewis says that he was able to piece some of the broken bottle together, enabling him to reach the conclusion that the fragments and the bottle top all came from an Echo Falls Fruit Fusion red wine bottle.
Mr Cole says that four glass fragments were obtained from the hooded jacket obtained from Stephen Duggan.
Mr Lewis says the jacket was examined under specialist lighting, and appeared to have come into contact with a form of liquid.
Duggans jeans were also examined, and were found to contain glass fragments.
Mr Lewis says all of the fragments appeared to match the Echo Falls bottle.
Mr Cole asks about fragments of glass recovered from jeans worn by Alison Wilson at the time of her death.
Mr Lewis concluded that the fragments of glass and pattern of wine staining was “likely” to have been caused by the bottle being broken over the head of Mr Tomlinson.
However his findings are inconclusive as to whether Miss Wilson was in close proximity to Mr Tomlinson when the bottle was broken over his head.
Mr Cole asks about the theory that the bottle was inside a carrier bag when it struck the victims.
He says he would expect to find damage to the bag.
Mr Cole suggests that the restriction of the carrier bag would reduce the momentum of the bottle.
Mr Lewis agrees.
Mr Cole asks if the absence of any glass fragments on Miss Wilsons upper clothing is significant.
Mr Lewis suggests that he would expect glass fragments to have left the bag and gone onto her clothing if the bag struck her containing broken glass.
Mr Lewis says on Mr Tomlinson however, there were around 300 fragments of broken glass on his clothing, consistent with a bottle outside of a bag being broken over his head.
He also says if the bag had been swung and hit Mr Tomlinson, he would have expected it to have lost momentum and therefore have been unable to cause an injury to Miss Wilson in the same movement.
Mr Cole asks his overall opinion on the proposition that the wine bottle had been in a bag at the time it was broken.
Mr Lewis: “In my opinion the findings provide very strong support to the proposition that the Echo Falls wine bottle used in the assault on Anthony Tomlinson and Alison Wilson had not been contained in a carrier bag at the time it was broken.”
That concludes Mr Coles questions.
15:14 Jonathan Humphries Cross examination
Mr Birkett will now ask some questions of Ms Davidson.
He is talking through some photographs of the scene and exhibits.
Mr Birkett asks Ms Davidson to confirm that the bottle cap from the wine bottle was found at a different location to where the injuries took place.
She confirms that.
Ms Davidson says the fact that there was no blood or small shards of glass on the bottle cap supports the theory that the cap was not on the bottle when it struck the victims.
Mr Birkett reminds the court of the evidence of taxi driver Julie Mercer, who told the court she saw Duggan swing a plastic bag containing a bottle at the victims, striking first Mr Tomlinson and then Miss Wilson.
Ms Davidson says she was not asked to consider Ms Mercers statement when conducting her investigation.
Mr Birkett asks to go through the findings of Ms Davidsons report in relation to the three bags, the matalan bag, the baby bag and the food carrier bag, she examined to check the theory that the bottle was swung inside a bag.
Mr Birkett suggest if the bottle had been broken inside any of the bags then she would have been expected to find wine inside the bag.
Ms Davidson confirms this, and says there was no traces of wine staining in any of the three bags.
Mr Birkett looks at a picture of Stephen Duggans jacket, which contained shards of glass.
PB: “If an open bottle containing wine had been put under that jacket, then there is a real risk there would have been wine spillage or staining inside the jacket?”
GD: “Yes.”
Mr Birkett suggests that if Duggan had been involved in a tussle at the time he was holding an open bottle of wine there would be a risk again of spillage of wine.
He suggests there may have been wine on the baby seat, that Duggan was seen to be fighting with the mother of the baby over.
Mr Birkett asks if she is suggesting that the bottle was held in Duggans hand as a weapon.
Ms Davidson says she suggests the weapon was held and swung in a motion.
She says if the bottle had been broken with the wine inside the energy would have been transferred to the liquid, which would have explained the splashes of wine and blood on the victims clothing.
Mr Birkett asks if she is suggesting that the theory the bottle in the bag is impossible, or simply less likely.
Ms Davidson says she found the evidence that the bottle was not in a bag is “less likely” but she cannot completely exclude the possibility.
That concludes Mr Birketts questions, and Ms Davidsons evidence.
Judge Holroyde allows the jury a short break
14:49 Jonathan Humphries Injuries “extremely unlikely” to be caused by bottle swung inside a carrier bag
Mr Cole asks about blood staining at the scene, and the “general interpretation” of blood staining on the ground.
She says there was heavy blood pooling and drips of blood on the road.
Ms Davidson describes where the blood stains were along the section of Frank Street.
She says due to the nature of Miss Wilsons injury, she would expect to see a significant amount of blood in the immediate area where she was injured, and blood staining anywhere she would move after that.
She says her findings were consistent with this expectation.
The court heard there was also heavy blood-staining outside number six on Frank Street, where Miss Wilson collapsed and received medical attention.
Mr Cole asks Ms Davidson about her hypothesis resulting from her findings, and specifically whether Duggan punched or hit Mr Tomlinson with his hand, or whether he used a bottle.
She says: ““The presence of directional blood spots and red wine mixed together on the jeans and jacket of Anthony Tomlinson, the presence of blood from Anthony Tomlinson on Stephen Duggans hands, the blood matching Alison Wilson on Stephen Duggans bob hat and the waistband of Stephen Duggans jeans, when I consider my evidence I have to take into account there are also findings from other evidence on glass fragments, dealt with by my colleague.
“My findings provide extremely strong support for the suggestion that a bottle was used.”
Mr Cole asked whether there was any evidence to suggest whether Duggan hit the victims with a bottle of wine, or whether he swung a plastic carrier bag containing the bottle of wine.
Ms Davidson says she was given a plastic carrier bag and the baby bag carried by Duggan to examine.
She says there was no wine staining on the baby bag, although blood spots were found on its surface.
A Matalan carrier bag, from outside 6 Frank Street, was also examined.
There was no damage to the bag and it was in good condition.
She also examined a bag containing take away food, which had blood and wine stains on the outside.
Mr Cole refers back to the small section of skin found on a blood stained piece of glass.
Ms Davidson says a DNA match for Alison Wilson was obtained from the skin.
The court hears there was no evidence to support the theory that the plastic takeaway bag, the Matalan bag or the baby bag were swung at the victims, while containing the bottle, causing the injury.
Mr Cole asks if there was any evidence that the bottle could have been inside any bag when it struck Mr Tomlinson or Miss Wilson.
GC “If the bottle had been within a bag when it broke, what would you have been expected to find.?”
GD “If it is as the bottle breaks, to allow an opening for the wine to transfer, you would have to have an opening at the same time as the blood was transferred which would be unlikely.”
Ms Davidson says her findings, of wine and blood mixed together, are inconsistent with the idea that one blow from a bottle inside a bag caused the injuries.
Mr Cole suggests that for the injuries to be caused to Mr Tomlinson by broken glass, the glass would have to be exposed rather than inside a plastic bag.
Overall, Ms Davidson says the theory that the bottle was inside a plastic bag is “far less likely” than if Duggan struck the victims with the exposed bottle.
GC “A swing into her neck with a bottle inside a bag, is that likely to have resulted in a blood flow into the neck of the bottle?”
LD: “If the bottle was inside a bag you would expect the blood to go onto the bag rather than onto the bottle itself.”
“The findings provide extremely strong support that it was the first alternative, that it was a bottle used by Stephen Duggan rather than a bottle inside a bag.”
That concludes Mr Coles questions.
14:20 Jonathan Humphries Proceedings back underway
The case has been called back on and Judge Holroyde has returned to the courtroom
The members of the jury have returned to their seats.
Mr Cole continues to question Ms Davidson about the bottle neck.
She says the blood from inside the bottleneck matched the blood of Alison Wilson.
Ms Davidson is asked about other samples of glass, which she says also contained blood stains.
Mr Cole asks about the metal collar from the top of the wine bottle, which also contained blood staining.
The jury are being shown photographs of the metal collar of the bottle.
Ms Davidson says DNA from Anthony Tomlinson was also found on the inside of the collar.
She says this means they could only have been deposited by the glass below being broken, exposing the inside surface of the collar to wet blood.
13:02 Jonathan Humphries Proceedings to resume at 2pm
Mr Justice Holroyde has adjourned the case for lunch, and proceedings will resume at 2pm.
12:59 Jonathan Humphries Blood stained glass
Mr Cole asks about the examination of fragments of glass recovered from the scene.
The first is from an area to the front right area of a Police Car parked on Frank Street when analysis took place.
There were approximately 30 pieces of glass sampled from that area, ranging from 1mm by 1mm up to 2.5cm to 1.6cm in size.
Ms Davidson says there was heavy blood staining on the road around the fragments, which meant it was impossible to say whether blood had transferred from the road to the fragments after the glass landed on the floor.
Mr Cole asks about glass fragments from another area, which included 17 separate shards of glass.
These included fragments from the neck section of a bottle.
Mr Cole asks if there was blood staining on the fragments.
Ms Davidson says there was heavy blood staining on the glass, but one had small fibres and a small piece of skin.
However the fibres were unable to be analysed further.
Mr Cole asks about a specific piece of glass which was found to be the very top of the neck of the bottle, where the screw cap fits on.
Ms Davidson says she was able to find blood staining on the inside of the bottleneck, indicating that blood had flowed through the top of the bottle, rather than having just come into contact with blood on the ground.
She says this means the blood had to have been flowing through the bottleneck while the bottle was off the ground.
Victim’s blood on defendant’s clothing Jonathan Humphries Victim’s blood on defendant’s clothing
Ms Davidson says the distribution of wine and blood staining on Mr Tomlinsons clothing was consistent with either the bottle containing wine smashing on impact with Mr Tomlinson, or an already broken bottle splashing wine and blood onto his clothing.
She says there was a widespread area of blood and wine stains on Mr Tomlinsons jacket and jeans.
Mr Cole asks about items relating to the defendant, Stephen Duggan.
Ms Davidson examined jeans, a coat and a hat.
The coat was examined under specialised lighting, and found examples of wine staining on the coat, as well as blood matching his own.
There were four small stains located on the hat matching blood from Alison Wilson.
On the jeans there were blood stains matching Alison Wilson around the waistband.
12:38 Jonathan Humphries Wine mixed with blood stains
The court hears that Ms Davidson was mainly concerned with identifying who blood found at the scene belonged to, and also the presence of wine from the broken bottle.
Mr Cole is asking Ms Davidson to explain the different ways blood can be transferred to different surfaces. Blood can drip down onto a surface, be transferred by a hand or other secondary method.
She says for blood to splatter, it would need significant pressure or to have been caused by the impact of a blow. Ms Davidson said that she would be looking for the presence of wine in the blood if the bottle was full when it was used to assault the victims.
She was given DNA samples from Miss Wilson, including blood stained clothes. Ms Davidson was also provided with a handbag.
Mr Cole asks if any wine was found on Miss Wilsons clothing. Ms Davidson says it was difficult to find the presence of wine on dark, blood stained clothing, but using lighting techniques they were available to find examples of possible wine staining on her handbag.
Mr Cole asks about blood staining on Mr Tomlinsons clothing GD: “There was very heavy staining on his jacket, making the jacket quite stiff in texture.” Miss Davidson says there was evidence of wine staining on Mr Tomlinsons jeans.
12:21 Jonathan Humphries Proceedings back underway
Judge Holroyde is back in court and the case is being called back on.
Mr Cole rises to clarify to the jury that the River Island jacket and polo shirt found at the scene were clothing that belonged to Mr Tomlinson, rather than Duggan or any other party in the case.
The next witness will be Geraldine Davidson. Ms Davidson is a forensic scientist specialising in the examination of body fluids at crime scenes.
She also analyses blood and other fluid for DNA evidence.
Ms Davidson says she had access to photos and logs from the scene, and pictures of the injuries sustained by Miss Wilson.
Ms Davidson says she was provided with pieces of glass from Mr Tomlinsons wounds and from the floor of an ambulance.
She was also provided with clothing belonging to Duggan.
11:52 Jonathan Humphries Cross-examination
Mr Birkett asks about the injuries to the mother who was carrying the baby.
Dr Rogers suggests a bruise to her eye was carried out by a punch.
Mr Birkett suggests the injury to Miss Wilson was consistent with the forward momentum of a broken bottle.
PB “Tragically, the area that the bottle hit was the area of the jugular vein?”
DR: “Yes.”
He asks Dr Rogers to confirm that the injuries to Mr Tomlinson were likely to be cause by more than one impact.
Dr Rogers agrees.
That concludes Mr Birketts questions.
Judge Holroyde asks whether Dr Roger meant a “light contact” by the term glancing blow.
Dr Roger suggests he was just trying to describe the motion that caused the injury.
That concludes Dr Rogers evidence.
Judge Holroyde has allowed the jury a short break.
11:50 Jonathan Humphries Injuries to the lower part of the face were caused by a bottle that was already broken
Mr Cole asks about the injury to Mr Tomlinsons forehead.
The case is paused for five minutes while some photocopies of a body map of Mr Tomlinsons injuries are provided
The paperwork has been provided and the court will resume.
Mr Cole asks again about the wound to Mr Tomlinsons forehead.
Dr Rogers says all of them are incised wounds, causing by sharp objects, measuring 1.3 and 1.6cm long.
The court hears the wounds were close together, and caused in the same impact.
Dr Rogers says Mr Tomlinson suffered five different wounds.
Mr Cole says the wounds were at the top of the head, and at the bottom of the face directly underneath the other wounds.
One of the wounds ran from the bottom lip, down unto Mr Tomlinsons chin.
Dr Rogers says this wound had “significant depth.”
Dr Rogers describes the largest wound to Mr Tomlinsons face, which measured 5.4cm.
Mr Cole asks whether the injuries to Mr Tomlinsons were caused by a bottle.
Dr Rogers says the use of a bottle was “entirely consistent” with the use of a bottle.
Mr Cole asks if the impact was caused by a bottle already broken.
Dr Rogers says there is no obvious bruising around the wounds to Mr Tomlinsons head, but he is unable to say whether the bottle was intact or smashed.
However he says the injuries to the lower part of the face were caused by a bottle that was already broken.
Mr Cole asks about two wounds that ran in separate directions.
Dr Rogers says the wounds could have been caused by different jagged edges of the same broken bottle.
Dr Rogers says the injuries are consistent with a broken bottle being pushed into Mr Tomlinsons face, but it is not the only explanation.
He says he favours the theory that the wound to the top of the head and the bottom of the face were caused by two separate impact.
That concludes Mr Coles questions.
11:21 Jonathan Humphries Cause of death “catastrophic” blood loss
Dr Rogers says it is difficult to say what caused the very small abrasions to Alisons face, and says he does not believe them to be relevant.
He says scratches to Alsons thumb were also not relevant.
Mr Cole asks the jury to look at a diagram of a human head, showing the position of the jugular vein.
Dr Rogers says it is difficult to examine the structures of the neck after surgeons battled to save her life.
He says that surgeons sutured the left jugular vein and a facial vein during exploratory emergency surgery after she was admitted to Whiston Hospital.
Dr Rogers says there was significant damage to the main jugular vein, and he believes it was “pretty much severed.”
He says the facial vein runs into the jugular vein.
The injuries would have let a “ catastrophic” blood loss, and needed a 14 unit blood transfusion. Dr Rogers describes this as a “significant amount.”
He says the abnormality in blood clotting is a regular side effect of major blood loss.
The cause of death was given as shock and haemorrhage, leading to circulatory collapse due to blood loss, caused by one incised wound to the jugular vein.
Mr Cole asks about the laceration to Mr Tomlinsons face, which went directly through his cheek.
Dr Rogers looked at pictures of Mr Tomlinsons injuries as part of his investigation into the cause of Alisons death.
He says he read an account by paramedics, stating that the wound was wide enough for them to see Mr Tomlinsons teeth and tongue.
11:08 Jonathan Humphries Wounds
The next witness will be Dr Brian Rogers, a Home Office approved pathologist who examined Alison Wilsons body.
Several of her family members have chosen to leave court due to the distressing nature of the evidence.
Dr Rogers carried out a post-mortem on Miss Wilsons body on March 14, the day after her death.
Mr Cole asks about Miss Wilsons medical records. He says the records showed she had lost a significant amount of blood loss and several cardiac arrests before her death.
Dr Rogers says the blood loss caused her circulation to collapse, leading to the cardiac arrests.
She was given a large amount of blood to try and save her life, and underwent surgery to the wound on her neck.
Dr Rogers: “When someone is bleeding very heavily they will often develop an abnormality in the blood clotting, because you are losing so much clotting product, the patient can then have real problems in the clotting of the blood.”
Dr Rogers says at some stage during the resuscitation procedure, the problems with clotting led Miss Wilson to have a stroke.
The court hears there were many signs of medical intervention, as well as the wounds caused by the bottle.
Mr Cole asks the jury to look at some diagrams, or body maps, showing the location of the injuries to Alisons head and neck.
Dr Rogers says there was large, ragged, “open skin defect” measuring five by four centimetres, below her left ear.
There was a large surgical incision where surgeons had operated on Miss Wilson.
Dr Rogers describes the wound as a “sharp force injury”, caused by a sharp object with irregular edges.
Mr Cole asks about the internal damage to Miss Wilsons neck.
Dr Rogers says there was no damage to the right of Alisons neck.
He says the lower two thirds of a large muscle in her neck hard been torn.
Dr Rogers says the internal jugular vein, which is the main vein draining blood from the brain and neck, was damaged by the wound.
There was a 3.5cm depth wound below the left jawbone, which was of “significant” depth to cause damage to the arteries in the neck.
Dr Rogers says this wound was a “focus wound”, meaning other than tiny scuff marks there were no other injuries other than the main injury to the neck.
Mr Cole asks what the wound was consistent with.
Dr Rogers: “I said originally it was consistent with being caused by the broken end of a bottle.”
Mr Cole asked about the mechanism of how that wound was caused.
DR: “To cause the extensive damage that was present, to the muscle and soft tissues, and the veins in the neck, in my view has to be caused of some form of irregular sharp object pushed into the neck in that position.”
GC “If we were thinking of a single piece of glass, is that likely to have caused this injury?”
DR “I considered this, and no, a shard of glass or fragment of glass is not likely to have caused this injury. This wound has an area to it around 5cm.
“A piece of glass would not be expected to cause a ragged hole, it would cause a sharper cut wound.”
Mr Cole asks if a piece of glass flying through the air could have caused it.
DR: “I would say that is not possible with this type of injury. I dont know about the size of th piece of glass but I think it would not have the sufficient momentum, speed, mass or velocity to cause that injury.
“If it struck you from a distance it might cause some scratches, or a puncture wound, but it is not going to cause a large ragged wound.”
10:42 Jonathan Humphries CSI investigator finds broken, bloodstained wine bottle
Mr Cole will now call a live witness, Mark Sidwell.
Mr Sidwell is a Crime Scene Investigation team leader at Cheshire Constabulary, based in Runcorn.
Mr Cole asks about events on the night of Alisons death.
Mr Sidwell arrived at the scene at 1.20am on March 8, when the scene had been secured by police cordons.
His role was to examine the scene and recover any items of interest. He was immediately able to see areas of blood pooling and blood splatter on the road.
GC: “The blood you were able to find was in effect a blood trail, by way of drips, from the road to outside number six?”
MS: “Yes thats correct.”
Mr Cole says outside number six was where Alison was sat down in a chair by local residents, and where the blood pooling was found.
Mr Sidwell highlighted areas of interest with yellow plastic markers.
There were pieces of broken, blood stained glass from an Echo Falls wine bottle on the road, confirms Mr Sidwell.
He took swabs from 10 different areas of blood staining.
Mr Cole is asking about specific swabs of blood splatter on the side of vehicles parked on the side of Frank Street.
He also asks about the location lass fragments, found on the road with bloodstains.
The metal collar, that goes around the neck of an Echo Falls wine bottle, was also found on the road.
Mr Cole says a blood-stained River Island jacket and a long-sleeved polo shirt was recovered from the scene.
The cap from the wine bottle was found from the bottom of the steps of a footbridge, over Frank Street, where Duggan was seen talking to a man called Mark Smith, who gave evidence yesterday.
That concludes Mr Coles questions.
Peter Birkett, QC, defending, will now ask some questions.
He asks Mr Sidwell to look at a photograph of the area that was cordoned off.
Mr Birkett asks about pieces of broken glass found underneath a police car, and whether these could have been broken by the police car going over glass.
Mr Sidwell says this is possible.
That concludes Mr Sidwells evidence.
10:20 Proceedings underway
Judge Mr Justice Holroyde has called for the jury. He will be joined by the High Sheriff of Merseyside, who takes responsibility for the high court judges sitting in his county.
Gordon Cole, QC, prosecuting will read some written statements.
The first is from Susan Laverick, who works at the Church View pub, visited by the victim and her boyfriend on the night of her death.
She says Anthony Tomlinson and Alison Wilson came into the pub, and they spoke throughout the night.
She says around 11.15pm, they told her they had ordered a Page Lane chippy, and were planning to leave in a taxi.
“Throughout the evening Alison and Anthony were happy and in good spirits, I wasnt working behind the bar but they were not drunk and they were well balanced.”
The next statement is from Joanne Howard, an emergency medical technician, which support paramedics in emergency situations.
She says she was requested to attend Frank Street, at around 23.37pm.
Upon arriving at Page Lane, she says she saw a babys dummy on the ground.
She said she could see Mr Tomlinson with severe lacerations to his cheek, chin and left eye.
She said: “Anthony was fully alert and stated he had five to six pints of alcohol, he was very worried about his partner.”
The next is from Imran Ansari, who was a medical registrar working out of Whiston Hospital.
He says Miss Wilson was brought into A&E “barely conscious, bleeding heavily and in shock.”
He says she twice suffered a cardiac arrest but recovered.
She was taken to theatre and surgeons found she had a cut to her a jugular vein.
Miss Wilson was taken to intensive care “gravely ill.”
The next statement is from Monica Humphries, a registered emergency nurse practitioner at Whiston Hospital.
She treated Anthony Tomlinson, who had facial lacerations, lacerations to his forehead, lip and chin.
He was referred to plastic surgeons to have the wound sealed.
10:19 Morning
I am in Liverpool Crown Court for day three of the trial of Stephen Duggan, for the murder of Good Samaritan Alison Wilson.
Stephen Duggan, 28, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the 36-year-old, from Widnes, but denies her murder on Saturday, March 7 this year
He is alleged to have thrust a broken wine bottle into Ms Wilsons neck after she tried to stop him attacking a woman in Frank Street, Halton View, Widnes.
Duggan, of no fixed address, has admitted assaulting the woman and wounding another her boyfriend, Anthony Tomlinson, 43, who was in a taxi with Ms Wilson.
However he denies assault on a baby who fell from a car seat, carried by the other woman.
Yesterday Mr Tomlinson described how he awoke from being knocked unconscious to find Miss Wilson holding her neck, already fatally wounded.
He was left with his cheek slashed open, leaving his teeth visible through the wound.
Doctors tried to save Miss Wilson but she died six days later in hospital on March 13.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/