Walsall flat plunge: Lover 'tried to kill me in fall'
A 28-year-old woman plunged from the balcony of a third floor flat during a bust up in which her lover was allegedly trying to kill her, a jury heard.
Kayli Hill fractured her back, pelvis, ribs and a wrist when she fell to the ground outside Wood House in Little London, Caldmore.
One of her lungs was lacerated and emergency surgery was needed to save the sight of an eye.
She described the terrifying incident in a videoed police interview played to Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday at the start of a trial in which 53-year-old Michael Riggon denies her attempted murder.
The fall followed a row between the pair during which the mood of the man - who had been drinking - suddenly changed on February 27, the court heard.
Miss Hill said: "He switched and went mad. First he punched me. Then he picked up an ornament and whacked me on the back of the head. I felt the blood running down. He didn't do it once. He did it about six times."
Riggon then threw the ornament through a window and walked into the kitchen to collect a knife, the court was told.
Miss Hill said: "He said I was going to die. I knew I had to get out. If I had gone to the front door he would have caught and stabbed me so I volleyed myself through the broken window onto the balcony. The window was shattered but there was still glass in it.
"I knew I had to get onto the balcony. I expected him to stop but he kept on going. I was screaming for help and then he was on the balcony with me. He had put the knife on the step between the living room and the balcony."
Riggon allegedly tried to get her back into the flat, but she refused. Miss Hill said: "He said ' That's it. I am going to kill you now.' He tried to grab my hair and pull me back into the flat. He wanted nobody to see. I was trying to grab onto anything I could.
"He went in and came out with the knife. I climbed over the corner of the balcony. One leg over and then the other.
"I was balancing my feet on the little ledge and holding onto the bannister. He was in front of me saying 'if you want to jump, jump.' I said 'I don't want to.'
"Then I dropped my legs and was holding on with my arms. He could have helped me but he did not. I tried to swing myself up. In between the ledge and the balcony there was a little gap through which I could see his legs.
"I looked straight into his eyes and said 'please pull me back.' He said 'grab my leg' and he would pull me up but, when I tried, he moved his leg. That is when I fell.
"I let go with one hand to grab his leg and could not hold on with the other. I knew I was going to fall. I felt myself slipping and thought 'oh God.'
"I just closed my eyes and felt myself bouncing off the other balconies on the way down.'
Riggon admits there was an argument and accepts breaking the window but denies assaulting Miss Hill.
He denies having a knife during the incident and claims to have tried to save her from the fall which he blames for all her injuries.
Miss Mary Loram, prosecuting, told the jury: "The central issue is what made her fall. Was it the result of her own action or as direct result of the actions of the defendant."
Riggon, of West Bromwich Street, Caldmore denies attempted murder, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and assault. The trial continues.
