‘Overbearing and controlling’ Staffordshire man ‘murdered partner after long period of abuse’

Dale Cole, 39, is said to have inflicted “very serious internal injuries” on Lisa Holland, 39, at the home they shared in Burton-on-Trent on October 20 2022 after he flew into a rage when he returned home from work to find the door was locked.

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Cole is facing a trial at Stafford Crown Court accused of murder, four counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Opening the trial on Tuesday, Crown counsel Edward Brown KC said Miss Holland’s death was the culmination of a “long period of abuse” at the hands of Cole, who was violent, manipulative and controlled the victim and her money.

Mr Brown said the trial, which is expected to last four weeks, will hear how members of Miss Holland’s family had noticed she had black eyes on at least three occasions, which she blamed on their dog or walking into furniture.

Neighbours also reported hearing slapping sounds, “repeated arguments” in which Miss Holland was told to shut up, crying and also later said she appeared “frightened and anxious”.

Text messages exchanged between the couple throughout their relationship read to the jury also saw Miss Holland complaining on multiple occasions of being in pain, aching and unable to cover her bruises with make-up.

On one occasion, Cole told Miss Holland to “stop going on about it” after she complained of pain in her head and face.

The court heard on the day she was killed, Cole had returned home from work at 4.19pm to find the front door locked and the key inside the door and had finally got into the house at around 4.30pm, where he was “plainly furious”.

Mr Brown told the jury: “What followed was the fatal attack… The defendant lost his temper and in anger, he took her life.

“Miss Holland was vulnerable herself, which the defendant well knew. Her death was the culmination of a long period of abuse.

“Not only was the defendant overbearing, controlling and abusive, he was violent.”

He added: “You will hear a terrible story of abuse, both emotional and physical, by a man who controlled her and in anger, he eventually killed her.

“Miss Holland was aged 39 and herself vulnerable. She struggled with alcohol dependency.

“There were periods in her life where she abstained, but periods where she fell into drink.

“A woman, you may think, who needed support, not abuse at the hands of her partner.”

After Cole got inside the house, Mr Brown said the attack likely took place at the top of the stairs before Miss Holland either fell or was placed at the bottom of the steps.

He said: “Having attacked his partner, the defendant simply left her there and did nothing to help her until it was too late. It was then he rang 999.

“Miss Holland’s internal injuries were caused by the defendant – they were far too severe to have been caused by any kind of accidental fall, down the stairs or otherwise.”

Jurors were shown graphic photographs alleged to have been taken by Cole at 4.49pm of Miss Holland on her own phone as she lay unconscious and fatally injured on the stairs, around an hour and a half before the defendant called 999 at 6.23pm.

West Midlands Ambulance Service attended their home address in Victoria Crescent, where Miss Holland was pronounced dead at around 7pm.

A post-mortem examination carried out on Miss Holland’s body found at least 40 broken ribs, with at least 30 of those having been inflicted in the previous weeks and months, the court was told.

In an account to paramedics at the scene, Cole claimed Miss Holland was drunk and had fallen down the stairs, where he had found her and did CPR.

He told police he had “had a go” at Miss Holland for being drunk before he fell asleep on the sofa and later woke to find his partner at the bottom of the stairs after earlier hearing a “thud”.

Mr Brown said their relationship was “truly abusive” and that Cole beat Miss Holland as “some kind of punishment, as he saw it, for her drinking”.

Analysis of Miss Holland’s bank account found more than 50 deposits were made by the DWP between January 2019 and October 2022, with 50 payments, totalling some £35,000, transferred onto Cole with references including “debt to society” and “Lisa loves Dale”.

A report by forensic pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer found that Miss Holland had suffered injuries to her abdomen commonly seen in victims of high-velocity car accidents.

She had also suffered blunt force trauma to her head and face, old and new fractures to her ribs, bruising around her pancreas, stomach and lungs, a “significant” injury to her liver, a rupture in the right chamber of her heart and a mild to moderate brain injury.

Dr Lockyer said the injuries to her heart, liver, stomach and intestines could not have been accounted for by one single blow.

Cole, who entered the dock with crutches and wore a grey suit, did not appear to show any reaction as the extensive list of injuries were read out.

The trial continues.