The killer of Good Samaritan Alison Wilson smashed a wine bottle over her boyfriend’s head before slashing her neck “in a deliberate act,” claimed prosecution lawyers.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Stephen Duggan, 28, “lost his temper” before knocking 43-year-old Anthony Tomlinson unconscious and severing 36-year-old Miss Wilson’s jugular vein, causing “catastrophic blood loss.”
The couple had stepped out of a taxi to intervene in a heated row between Duggan and a young mum carrying a baby in a car-seat, when they were attacked in Frank Street, Widnes , on Saturday March 7.
Gordon Cole, QC, prosecuting, said to Duggan today: “This was a deliberate act, you used the bottle as a brutal, lethal weapon, and you used it and left a man with severe injuries, and a woman to die didn’t you?”
The defendant replied: “No I did not.”
"Just a reaction” that happened “in the blink of an eye"
Duggan, of no fixed address, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, wounding Mr Tomlinson and assaulting the other woman, but denies murder.
He also denies assaulting the baby, who fell from the car-seat to the pavement sustaining facial injuries.
Duggan told the jury today that he pushed Miss Wilson, punched the other woman to the face before turning and seeing Mr Tomlinson approaching.
He said he “swung” his arm at Mr Tomlinson in a right-hook type motion, fearing he was going to be attacked.
But Mr Cole suggested Duggan had “lost his temper” after the baby fell to the floor.
Duggan denied losing his temper, and said the blow to Mr Tomlinson was “just a reaction” that happened “in the blink of an eye.”
The court heard fingernail swabs taken from Duggan’s right hand after his arrest contained traces of Alison Wilson’s blood.
"You just lost your temper and you hit people with a bottle"
Mr Cole suggested this meant his hand would have to have been near her neck when she was fatally wounded.
Asked how the blood got there, Duggan replied: “I don’t know.”
The court heard prior to the incident Duggan had left his father Gary Duggan’s flat, where he had been celebrating getting a new job, after an argument with Mr Duggan’s partner Julia Gwilliam.
He told the jury he had taken a bottle of Echo Falls red wine from the kitchen in a carrier bag, and headed down Frank Street, before getting into an argument with the woman.
The defendant frequently answered Mr Cole’s questions with “I don’t know” and could not explain where the bottle was when he struck out at Mr Tomlinson.
He denied it was in his hand and suggested: “It must have been in the carrier bag around my wrist, or about my person.”
He claimed not to remember the bottle smashing, or Mr Tomlinson falling to the floor after the blow.
Mr Cole asked: “How do you believe Alison Wilson came to her injuries?”
Duggan replied: “I can’t comment on that.”
Mr Cole referred to the evidence of taxi driver Philip Horrocks, who had been driving Miss Wilson and Mr Tomlinson.
Mr Horrocks said he saw Duggan turn round and begin to unbutton his jacket, before Mr Tomlinson was knocked to the ground.
Mr Cole suggested Duggan had the wine bottle in an inside pocket, and removed it to use as a weapon.
He said: “You just lost your temper and you hit people with a bottle when it was solid and pieces of a bottle when it was broken. And this about a bottle in a carrier bag is nonsense isn’t it?”
Duggan replied: “No.”
(Proceeding)
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/