Smethwick murder victim 'had 19 rib fractures, head and neck injuries'
Traumatic injuries to the head, chest and neck combined to cause the death of 70-year-old murder victim Gurmukh Singh, a jury was told.
He had 19 rib fractures, a fracture to his breast bone and a badly injured voice box which had fractured cartilages together with damage to both the inside and outside of the neck.
This indicated the attacker had either tried to strangle him or put him in a strong neck hold, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Consultant forensic pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer added that the victim had been hit at least four times with heavy punches, leaving him with deep bruising and fractures to bones around both eyes.
There was also a possibility of a concussive brain injury becoming fatal if the person had been drinking heavily, he continued. The deceased was almost four times the drink drive limit.
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Dr Lockyer said the head, chest and neck injuries each had the potential to have caused but added: "It is a difficult task to single out one injury over the other and so I conclude all three - head, chest and neck - came together to cause the death."
Mr Singh had been drinking at the home of 51-year-old Palvinder Hayre in White Road, Smethwick, where he had stayed over night on November 22 and the two men seemed to be getting along well when visited by a friend the following day.
But an hour after she left a CCTV camera captured Mr Singh being thrown out of the front door of the house onto the slabbed path where he lay unconscious for almost half an hour before another tenant at the house found him.
The victim was taken to hospital but was certified dead soon afterwards.
The person who ejected the victim was seen to be wearing grey jogging bottoms and a distinctive top that allegedly matched the clothing of Hayre.
Blood from the dead man was supposedly found on jogging bottoms found in the defendant's bedroom, the court was told.
He confirmed to police that he had been drinking with Gurmukh Singh the day before the death and the victim spent the night at his house but insisted: "I did not cause any of the injuries he suffered. I deny having anything to do with Gurmukh's death."
Hayre denies murder and the case continues.
