A doctor died of head injuries after falling from
A doctor died of head injuries after falling from a bathroom window as he allegedly tried to escape violent retribution for a one-night stand, a jury heard today.
(Tuesday)
The medical man suffered a ‘major impact’ to the back of his head, fracturing his skull and causing ‘severe’ underlying brain injuries.
The 31-year-old underwent a severe beating after being discovered by a teenager ‘outraged’ at finding a strange man in his mother’s bed.
London’s Southwark Crown Court heard Owen Smith – universally known as Dan – had met Gillian Bonnick in a Richmond pub the previous night who was enjoying a girl’s night out with friends, including the teenager’s mother Jacqui Chesters.
Dr Smith, a registrar at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, and 33-year-old Miss Bonnick returned the the Chesters home where she was staying for sex.
After the drunken romp, the lovers fell asleep only to be rudely awoken by Dean Chesters, Dr Smith falling victim to a flurry of heavy blows to his face, allegedly fracturing his nose.
Bleeding heavily, the doctor was forced by Chesters to mop up blood from the new carpet in his mother’s bedroom.
However, it is alleged Dr Smith was then in immense pain and so feared a further attack he escaped through a bathroom window but fell.
Chesters, now 20, of Sheen Road, Richmond, Surrey, denies manslaughter but admits assaulting Dr Smith on November 25 last year.
Dr Smith, whose father is a former Vicar of Wrexham, died on November 30.
Pathologist Dr Robert Chapman told the jury he conducted a post-mortem the following day, many of the dead man’s organs already having been removed for transplant.
He said ‘death resulted from a head injury’ caused by a ‘major impact to the back of the head’ and leaving a ‘long fracture’ to the right side of the head.
He said it was a pattern suggesting a ‘heavy fall onto the back of the head.
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The pathologist said there was also bruising across the shoulders, small of the back and the buttocks, again consistent with such a fall.
Michael Worsley, QC, prosecuting, asked about an injury to the nose and left eye.
‘Was that consistent with a heavy clenched fist blow to the region of the left eye and nose, with an underlying fracture of the nose?’ asked Mr Worsley.
Dr Chapman agreed, but said on purely medical evidence he could not rule out the front of the head striking a hard surface during the fall.
He said similarly bruising to the upper chest could have been caused by punching and patches of bruises on the inside of the upper arms ‘were consistent with being gripped by an adult hand.
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He confirmed there was no bruising on Dr Smiths hands, adding: ‘Nothing to suggest he was involved in fisticuffs himself.
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The trial continues.
ends
