Shrewsbury murder trial told of accused's 'lies'
A murder trial jury has ben told the accused man has told so many lies since his partner was killed in Shrewsbury that he had lost track of his own story.
Nigel Woolley was still lying when he gave evidence 14 and a half months later, said Richard Atkins QC, prosecuting.
"He now can't remember what lies he has told and can't remember what to say so he has continued to lie," Mr Atkins said in his closing remarks.
Woolley, of Buttington Road, Monkmoor, Shrewsbury, has admitted manslaughter but denies the murder of 47-year-old Julie Mercer the day before Christmas Eve, 2014.
Mr Atkins told Worcester Crown Court that Woolley, 46, had eventually had to admit the truth, which was that he had physically abused her "over a number of years".
"He assaulted her again and again," Mr Atkins said. The abuse resulted in fractures to her ribs, a broken cheekbone and a broken nose, Mr Atkins said, and on the night she died, he assaulted her in the offices of Dial-a-Ride on Sundorne Trade Park, where she worked as a finance manager.
They had gone to wait for a taxi home after shopping and he went to get a curry. When he got back at 10pm, he carried out the fatal assault.
"She would have been in immense pain, crying out and dying, while he picked up his shopping, shut the door and locked her in," Mr Atkins said.
Woolley has told the jury that he stamped on Ms Mercer as she lay on the floor when she fell off some chairs after the couple, both heavy drinkers, had argued.
Andrew O'Byrne, defending, said the case painted a "sad and tragic picture" but it had to be decided on the evidence and whether he had intended to kill her.
The trial continues.
