Doubt cast on story of murder accused

Lorenzo Simon, aged 34, of Oxford Road, Smethwick, has claimed he threw a single punch at 39-year-old Michael Spalding, in self-defence, after which he fell to the floor and died.

But pathologist Nicholas Hunt told Birmingham Crown Court some of Mr Spalding's injuries were inconsistent with a fall. Simon and his partner Michelle Bird, 35, have denied murdering Mr Spalding on April 26 last year.

Mr Spalding's body was found dismembered in two suitcases, one at a canal in Smethwick and one in Ladywood. When questioned by Mr Richard Christie, defending Simon, Dr Hunt said an individual who was stressed or arguing is likely to develop high levels of adrenaline.

He accepted Christie's proposition that combined with a narrowing of Mr Spalding's arteries, increased stress and adrenaline could have caused him to collapse and die.

But questioned by Mr Jonas Hankin QC, prosecuting, Hunt said it was not his view this had caused Mr Spalding's death.

He said: "The level of narrowing is not what I would expect to see associated with a death under those circumstances. I accept others may take a different view but in my experience, it is not.

"There is no scarring of his heart to suggest previous episodes and that is one of the features you look for to identify someone with a substantially increased risk of having fatal abnormalities in their heart rhythm under stressful circumstances."

Dr Hunt told the jury he had been unable to give a definitive cause of death due to the dismemberment and decomposition of Mr Spalding's body. He said he had found no evidence of a bullet or stab wound and no bruising to the neck to show Mr Spalding had been strangled.

A laceration to Mr Spalding's scalp was likely caused while he was alive and bruising to both his left and right temple was not consistent with a single fall to the ground, Dr Hunt told the jury.

He added a cut to Mr Spalding's left hand was consistent with a defensive action, namely trying to ward off an attacker with a knife. The 'single punch' account given by Simon did not provide a reasonable explanation for Mr Spalding's death, Dr Hunt said.

Earlier, the court heard Mr Spalding had a history of drug abuse. He had first taken cocaine in 1995 and then used heroin and cannabis from 1997, it was said.

Mr Spalding had made efforts to come off drugs, attending substance abuse programmes between 2006 and 2008, but he relapsed in 2013, the jury was told. There was no evidence of drugs in his blood when he died, the court heard.

The trial continues.