A man accused of murdering his partner fractured her skull with a ratchet, a BB gun or its magazine as she tried to stop him leaving her home in his Range Rover, a court has heard.
At the start of a trial at Leicester Crown Court, prosecutors alleged the blow by Ian Curson left Caragh Eaton, who was at his open driver’s side window, “stunned” and unsteady on her feet and unable to break her fall onto the road.
Curson, 42, denies the murder of the 28-year-old, who died at the scene after suffering two separate head injuries outside her property in Field Edge Drive, Barrow upon Soar, in September last year.
Prosecutors claim Curson, of Fairhaven Road, Leicester, “tried to create a misleading set of facts” after Miss Eaton’s death, but he maintains her injuries were caused by a fall.
Opening the Crown’s case on Tuesday, prosecutor Tim Clark KC told jurors the fatal incident occurred at about 4.30pm and had been captured on CCTV footage.
Mr Clark told the court: “It seems clear that all was not well as the video evidence shows; first, the defendant leaving that address, followed by Miss Eaton.
“The defendant got into his car, a black Range Rover and clearly is attempting to drive away.
“Miss Eaton was standing in the road very close to the car, but at various times with her head through the open driver’s side window.
“She was clearly preventing, or trying to prevent, the defendant from driving away in his vehicle.”
The court heard Miss Eaton fell to the floor as Curson drove away during the “fast-moving” incident, leaving residents to attempt CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
After the incident, the trial was told, Curson drove to a nearby caravan park to visit a man whom he believed Miss Eaton had been “behaving inappropriately” with, and then returned to the scene.
Explaining why Curson was originally charged with manslaughter, but subsequently with murder, Mr Clark told the court it was initially believed he had not intended to cause death or serious harm.
We say that blow interfered with her consciousness, stunned her - and thus when she did fall to the floor, she did not break her fall— Tim Clark KC, prosecuting
Mr Clark added: “The prosecution’s view of the offence changed as the scientific evidence from experts and their conclusions started to arrive.
“This evidence, combined with the existing evidence from CCTV and eyewitnesses, combined with the existing evidence of the defendant’s behaviour immediately after he drove away and he fled the scene, led the Crown to conclude that there were now grounds to charge the defendant with murder.
“The key evidence, you may conclude, comes from the pathologist who conducted the post-mortem examination of Miss Eaton’s body.
“He was assisted by a neuropathologist. It was their conclusion that Miss Eaton had sustained an injury to the back of her head caused by her fall to the floor as the defendant drove off.
“But, crucially, they concluded that there was another injury behind her right ear.”
The latter injury would be “a matter of some discussion and debate” during the trial, Mr Clark said, telling the court: “That injury was a considerable injury causing a fracture to the skull underneath.
“This is at an area where the bone of the skull is actually quite thick. It’s the Crown’s case it was caused by an object and, therefore, not from the fall.
“We say logically, you will conclude that that injury must have happened before the fall.
“It is therefore the Crown’s case that the defendant struck Miss Eaton with an object using considerable force – before she fell.
“We say that blow interfered with her consciousness, stunned her – and thus when she did fall to the floor she did not break her fall.”
Alleging that the injury behind the right ear was caused by a ratchet, a BB gun or its detachable magazine, Mr Clark asserted that Curson took pictures of himself with the ratchet after he left the scene and sent them to his alleged victim’s phone.
The court heard Miss Eaton’s DNA was found on the removeable magazine, along with blood-staining.
Jurors also heard that some illegal drugs were discovered at the home of Miss Eaton, who was “involved in the drugs world.”
When Curson was arrested near the scene of the death at about 7pm, the court heard, he said “here we go” and asked “who’s been murdered?”
Mr Clark said that after an officer replied “Caragh” the defendant became emotional and “was screaming and crying”.
The jury will see bodyworn video of the arrest, Mr Clark said, and will have to ask themselves whether Curson’s response was genuine or part of an effort to lay a false trail.
Jurors were told the defence case is expected to be “that the defendant did not strike Ms Eaton at all whilst she was inside or close to his car”.
“His case is that he drove off and that her head injuries were unexpected and unintended – but must have been caused by the process of her fall,” Mr Clark said.
Curson also denies possession of the ratchet as an offensive weapon on the day of the alleged murder.
The trial continues.
