A man stabbed his pregnant girlfriend to death after she allegedly told him she had aborted their twins, a court has heard. Stephan Garner, 31, denies murdering 33-year-old Amber O'Brien but accepts causing her death.
Garner killed Ms O'Brien after an argument at his flat in Blackley, north Manchester, jurors at Manchester Crown Court were told. Ms O'Brien's body was found on the bathroom floor of the eighth-floor flat, naked, cold to the touch, and covered in a blue tarpaulin lying in pools of water.
Attack and injuries
A pathologist found Ms O'Brien 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 being questioned by his barrister, Ben Myers KC.
Garner described his relationship with Ms O'Brien, saying: "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."
Events before the killing
Jurors previously heard a recording of a call Ms O'Brien made on April 15 requesting a termination of her pregnancy. Asked whether he knew if she 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 to the hospital, saying she 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 the killing, Garner attended a pub in Swinton with a friend. He said they took cocaine and drank alcohol. Later, he picked up Ms O'Brien and they returned to his flat at Somerton Court in Blackley with his friend.
Garner told the court he and Ms O'Brien argued and she accused him of cheating. He claimed she dragged him out of a chair and that her behaviour escalated. He said she threatened to get another man to 'sort me out', 'batter me' and 'kill me', leaving him 'scared', 'worried' and 'intimidated'.
The fatal confrontation
Garner said Ms O'Brien packed bags and left, but he followed her in his car. He told the jury she got into his vehicle voluntarily after he had reasoned with her. Once back at the flat, he said she threw a glass of water at him and slapped him. He claimed she threatened to ring the police on him for saying he was drink driving.
Garner said he returned to the flat at about 6.20am. He claimed Ms O'Brien was 'still the same' and blocked his path. He said he felt a punch to the back of his head, pushed her backwards, and she fell into the spare bedroom. He claimed she was then 'stood there with a knife' and said: "She said that she aborted both of my children that morning, because she didn't want to have children with a cheater."
Garner claimed Ms O'Brien 'sliced' his hand with the knife. He said: "I guess it's a flight or fight response. 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." He told the jury they struggled for the knife and that he pushed down and it stabbed her. He claimed she then grabbed a second knife, and he got hold of it and stabbed her.
Asked how many times he stabbed her, Garner said: "I don't know, I can't remember." He said he stopped after it became apparent she was dead. "She just stopped moving," he said. Asked why he lost control, he cited "the constant abuse throughout the relationship, whether it was verbal or physical" and her telling him she had aborted his children. He said he felt 'manipulated and betrayed'.
Garner said he moved Ms O'Brien's body to the bath because there was blood on the floor, and destroyed his mobile phone by throwing it in a lake because he was scared of being arrested. He accepted he killed Amber and that it was wrong. Garner, of Somerton Court, Blackley, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder. The trial continues.
