The killer of Good Samaritan Alison Wilson told a court he could not recall slashing her throat with a broken wine bottle.
Stephen Duggan, 28, of no fixed address, has admitted manslaughter but denies murdering the 36-year-old mum-of-two in Frank Street, Widnes, on Saturday March 7.
Miss Wilson and her boyfriend Anthony Tomlinson, 43, were attacked as they stepped out of a taxi to intervene in a heated row between Duggan and a young mum carrying a baby in a car-seat.
Duggan admits wounding Mr Tomlinson and assaulting the other woman, but denies a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the baby, which fell to the pavement sustaining facial injuries.
Giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court today, he denied holding a bottle of Echo Falls red wine when he lashed out at Mr Tomlinson.
Under questioning from defence counsel Peter Birkett, QC, Duggan said he had been arguing with the woman holding the baby when Miss Wilson approached.
He said: “The male and a female came over, and the female started grabbing the car seat. And then I noticed the baby on the floor.”
Mr Birkett asked what happened next.
Duggan said: “I pushed Alison, I punched (the other woman), and then I saw a male walking over so I hit him.”
Earlier the court heard Mr Tomlinson was knocked unconscious and his cheek was cut open leaving his teeth and tongue visible through the wound.
Miss Wilson suffered a wound to the left side of her neck, severing her jugular vein and causing “catastrophic” blood loss.
Duggan described “swinging” at Mr Tomlinson, but claimed he did not have the bottle in his hand.
Mr Birkett asked: “Did you at any time hold the bottle as a weapon?”
Duggan replied: “No, never.”
Liverpool Crown Court
He described being “seven out of 10” drunk at the time of the incident, after drinking two bottles of Desperado lager and some wine at his father Gary Duggan’s house, while celebrating getting a new job.
However he was asked to leave after an argument with his father’s partner Julie Gwilliam.
Under cross-examination from Gordon Cole, QC, prosecuting, Duggan said he had become “obnoxious” after the argument, but denied being aggressive.
He claimed he could not remember a bottle smashing, or what happened to Mr Tomlinson after he lashed out.
Mr Cole asked: “That bottle was used on Mr Tomlinson, but it was used on Alison Wilson as well?”
Duggan said: “Not by me[..] not deliberately.”
Earlier the court heard a transcript from Duggan’s police interview, in which he claimed he could not remember causing the injuries to Miss Wilson.
He told officers: “Someone has died, she was a mum. I am just shocked, I can’t believe two lives are ruined. How can you go out celebrating a new job one minute, and the next a woman is dead and you’re in jail? So many questions, so many what ifs.”
(Proceeding)
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/