Stephan Garner, 31, has admitted killing his pregnant girlfriend, 33-year-old Amber O’Brien, who was expecting twins, but denies murder. He told Manchester Crown Court he “snapped” after she said she had undergone an abortion.
Ms O’Brien was killed in the early hours of April 18 at Garner’s flat in Blackley, north Manchester, following an argument. Her body was found naked on the bathroom floor of the flat she shared with Garner, the father of her unborn twins, who were nine weeks into gestation. A pathologist found she had suffered more than 60 separate stab, incised and puncture wounds, including 32 to her face and neck.
Garner’s Account of the Relationship
On Wednesday, Garner was questioned by his barrister, Ben Myers KC, the Manchester Evening News reports. Garner said of his relationship with Ms O’Brien: “It just felt like it was sometimes impossible to resolve trivial issues. When arguments did occur she wouldn’t move past it, she would continue. I loved her. I cared about her. I was sad about the way things were going. I wanted it to work.”
Jurors previously heard a recording of a call made on April 15 in which Ms O’Brien requested a termination of her pregnancy. Asked whether he knew about her plans, Garner said: “No, none of it was discussed.”
The Night of the Killing
On the evening before the killing, Garner said he had taken cocaine and drunk alcohol at a pub in Swinton with a friend before returning to his flat with him. Garner told the court that he and Ms O’Brien argued at the flat and that she accused him of cheating on her, claiming that she had threatened to get another man to “sort me out”, “batter me” and “kill me”.
His friend left because he “didn’t feel comfortable with the confrontation”, jurors heard. Garner said he was “pi**** off” about Ms O’Brien’s “behaviour”. Garner said he left and returned to the flat at about 6.20am, claiming Ms O’Brien was “still the same” and was “argumentative, violent and aggressive”. Garner said Ms O’Brien blocked him from leaving the flat again and was “stood there with a knife”, which was in the bedroom as part of renovation work.
Garner’s Claim of Self-Defence
Garner said: “I just recall her saying that she aborted both of my children that morning, because she didn’t want to have children with a cheater.” Asked about his reaction, the defendant said he was “upset”, “devastated” and “angry”.
Asked what happened to the knife, Garner said: “We were both struggling for it. I think she put both of her hands on the sharp end. I think both of us have got both of our hands on this knife. Then I think I pushed down and it stabs her. I think after that the knife breaks.”
Garner claimed Ms O’Brien then grabbed a second knife. He said he tried to “intercept” the knife and that they were both “struggling” to get hold of it. Garner said he then got hold of the knife and stabbed her. Asked how many times he stabbed her, Garner said: “I don’t know, I can’t remember.” Asked whether he was counting the number of times he stabbed her, Garner said: “Of course not, no.”
“I lost control of the situation,” he said, adding that he stopped stabbing her when it became apparent she was dead. Asked why he had “lost control”, Garner said: “The constant abuse throughout the relationship, whether it was verbal or physical. Second was her telling me that she had aborted my two children. I felt manipulated and betrayed.”
“Her slashing me and trying to stab me with a knife. I snapped because of all this stuff that has happened. When you look at all these factors as a whole that’s how it has made me respond.”
Asked why he did not call the police, Garner said: “Because I was scared. I didn’t think they would believe what had happened, I didn’t think they would believe me.” He said he then moved Ms O’Brien’s body to the bath “because there was blood on the floor”. He also said he “destroyed” his mobile phone by throwing it in a lake as he was “scared of being arrested”.
Garner, of Somerton Court, Blackley, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder.
