Wood Farm murder victim suffered 37 blunt force injuries

Pathologist Dr Charlotte Randall told the jury at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday afternoon (June 27): “Whilst the object does not appear heavy, it is blunt and may be wielded with force when held in the palm of the hand.

“In this case, multiple lacerations of varying shapes and sizes were noted.”

The injuries to his head and neck caused Mr Breach’s death, while a fracture to his little finger was in keeping with him having defended himself, she said.

Questioned first by prosecutor Sarah Gaunt and, later, by James Scobie KC for 44-year-old Jones, the Home Office pathologist accepted that she could not be ‘definitive’ about what caused the blunt force injuries to Mr Breach.

It was suggested that the lacerations may have been caused by an attack with punches, kicks, stamps or blows from an ‘object’. She had specifically been asked to look at a small torch, found at Jones’ flat in Bonar Road and on which was found Mr Breach’s blood.

Mr Scobie, defending, asked Dr Randall: “There actually are no specific patterns that you noted to indicate the exact weapon.

“Therefore, what the jury have got to be careful of and what you have helpfully alerted us to in this case, as it actually happens you can’t be definitive as to what it was that caused either all of these injuries or some of these injuries other than it was a blunt, heavy object.

“Now, as a possibility, what you have concluded is that it’s possible that the torch that you were shown is a possible candidate [if] held in the hand of the assailant.

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“Am I right in saying that that can be thrown into the melting pot along with kicking, stamping and punching, so it’s included as a possibility?”

Dr Randall agreed but added that injuries to the top of Mr Breach’s head were ‘more likely’ to have been caused by an object ‘whether it’s a torch or not’ and not a fist or shod foot, due to the shape of the wounds.

She accepted that the position of the victim and the type of shoes worn by the assailant could affect the shape of injuries.

The pathologist also agreed with Mr Scobie’s suggestion that there were a number of ‘what might be called imponderables’, which meant the jury had to be ‘careful’ when considering the medical evidence.

In her conclusion as to what caused Mr Breach’s death, Dr Randall said: “There can be little doubt that his death was precipitated by this assault. It would not seem unreasonable to attribute his death to blunt force trauma to the head and neck and its associated complications.”

She was asked to consider whether any of the victim’s injuries could have been caused on the evening of November 29, around seven hours before his death and when he was said to have grappled with defendant Jones.

There was ‘nothing’ in her post-mortem investigations to suggest that the injuries had been sustained at any time other than during the assault on November 30, she said.

The doctor said she had not been provided with any details about the ‘alleged altercation’ the night before ‘other than being told there was some grabbing’.

Jones, who watched proceedings on Tuesday afternoon via video link, denies murder. The trial continues.

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