Stephan Garner, 31, has admitted killing 33-year-old Amber O'Brien, who was expecting twins, but denies murdering her. Garner killed Ms O'Brien in his flat in Blackley, north Manchester, after the pair had argued, jurors at Manchester Crown Court have heard.
Ms O'Brien's body was left on the bathroom floor of an eighth floor flat in Blackley, where she had been living with Garner, the father to her nine-week-old unborn twins. She was naked, 'cold to the touch', and was covered in a blue tarpaulin lying in 'pools of water'.
Pathologist finds more than 60 wounds
A pathologist later found she had suffered more than 60 separate stab, incised and puncture wounds, 32 of which were to her face and neck, during the attack in the early hours of April 18. On Wednesday (October 21) Garner spent a second day in the witness box at court being questioned by his barrister, Ben Myers KC.
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."
Termination claim
Jurors previously heard a recording of a call which Ms O'Brien made on April 15, requesting a termination of her pregnancy. Asked whether he knew if Ms O'Brien was 'planning any kind of termination', Garner said: "No, none of it was discussed."
He told jurors Ms O'Brien had asked him for a lift in his car to the hospital, but that she told him he was 'getting her kidney checked', rather than attending in relation to her pregnancy. He said: "I felt a bit betrayed by the fact she lied to me about the reason she was going. I wanted to be present during that scan."
On the evening of April 17, hours before Garner killed Ms O'Brien, he had attended a pub in Swinton with a friend. He said he dropped off Ms O'Brien at her mother's home. "We took some cocaine, we drank some alcohol at the pub," Garner said of him and his friend. Later, he picked up Ms O'Brien and they returned to his flat at Somerton Court in Blackley with his friend.
Arguments escalate
Garner told the court he and Ms O'Brien argued and she accused him of cheating on her. He claimed Ms O'Brien dragged him out of a chair. He said: "She was getting more irate. Her behaviour escalated. She was going mad." Asked about his response, Garner said: "I wasn't perfectly calm. I was never violent."
He claimed Ms O'Brien had threatened to get another man to 'sort me out', 'batter me' and 'kill me'. Garner said he was 'scared', 'worried' and 'intimidated'. He told the court that he told her to go to her mother's house.
The defendant said: "I couldn't diffuse it, it was just escalating more and more. She packed a couple of bags and left basically." But Garner said he then followed her in his car to pick her up before she arrived there. He said he wanted to 'try and resolve the conflict'.
He told the jury he'd called her in the meantime, telling her that he loved her and that he didn't want her to wake up her family in the early hours. Ms O'Brien could be heard to say 'we're done Stephan', jurors have heard. Once he caught up with her, Garner said he told his partner: "I'm in love with you, I don't want to have these arguments."
Garner told the jury she got into his vehicle 'voluntarily' after he had 'reasoned with her'. Asked what the 'mood' was like in the car, Garner said: "It was awkward. We were angry with each other."
Final confrontation
Once back at the flat, Garner said he tried to encourage Ms O'Brien, who was in the bedroom, to 'socialise' with Garner and his friend in the kitchen. Garner said: "She was kicking off, she said she didn't want to. She said 'I don't want to speak to you'."
He claimed Ms O'Brien threw a glass of water at her. Garner added: "It didn't smash, but it hit me on the thigh. I was angry, I was." The friend left because he 'didn't feel comfortable with the confrontation', jurors heard. Garner said he was 'pi**** off' and 'embarrassed' about Ms O'Brien's 'behaviour'.
Garner told the court: "I think she accused me of flirting with her mum." He claimed Ms O'Brien then slapped him. Garner said he went to leave. He said "I told her I'm not staying in the same flat with her. She threatened to ring the police on me for saying I'm drink driving for getting in the car."
Garner said he then returned to the flat, at about 6.20am. He claimed Ms O'Brien was 'still the same' when he came back to the property, and was 'argumentative, violent and aggressive'.
Garner said: "At this point I'd had enough." He said he went to leave but that Ms O'Brien blocked his path. He said he then felt something to the back of his head, which he believed to have been a 'punch' from Ms O'Brien. "I turned around and Amber was stood there," Garner said. "I pushed her backwards."
He said that she fell over into the spare bedroom. "I think I turn away and then I hear her getting up," he added. Garner claimed Ms O'Brien was 'stood there with a knife'.
She said it was a knife which was in the bedroom as part of renovation work. 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."
Defendant claims self-defence
Asked for his reaction, the defendant said he was 'upset' and 'devastated'. He said: "I was angry as well at the same time." Garner claimed that Ms O'Brien 'sliced' his hand with the knife.
"I guess it's a flight or fight response," he said. "She lunged at me with the same hand with the blade. I put both hands in to intercept the knife that has come towards me."
Garner told the jury Ms O'Brien fell backwards and that he fell on top of her. "The knife has obviously made contact," he said. "I think it was on the neck, I'm not 100 per cent sure."
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 they were both 'struggling' to get hold of it. Garner said he then got hold of the knife and stabbed her.
"How many times?," Mr Myers asked. "I don't know, I can't remember," the defendant replied. "Were you counting the number of times you stabbed her?," Mr Myers continued. "Of course not, no," said Garner.
"I lost control of the situation." He said he stopped stabbing her after it became apparent she was dead. "She just stopped moving," Garner said.
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."
Garner said he felt 'mortified' and was 'upset'. Asked why he didn't 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 then moved Ms O'Brien's body to the bath. "I guess because there was blood on the floor," he said. Garner said he 'destroyed' his mobile phone by throwing it in a lake. "I was scared of being arrested," he said.
Mr Myers asked: "Do you accept you killed Amber?" Garner replied: "Yes."
The barrister continued: "Do you accept it was wrong to do that?" Garner replied: "Of course."
Garner of Somerton Court, Blackley, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder.
