I didn’t do it: man denies killing lover
A LOVER allegedly subjected his boyfriend to a fatal attack during a drunken fight at their seaside flat, jurors heard.
Jonathan Armstrong is said to have caused the death of Dean Bowe with a blow which caused him to fall and bang his head, suffering catastrophic head injuries.
Armstrong, 45, denies manslaughter and claims 32-year-old Mr Bowe fell while suffering a fit at their home.
It is also alleged Armstrong had subjected his partner to an assault nine months earlier, during which he is said to have broken his collar bone by stamping on him. Armstrong denies inflicting GBH in relation to that.
Prosecutors say a neighbour heard them fighting on September 7 and claims Mr Bowe was cring out: “Don’t Jonathan. Help, help, help.”
Jurors were told an ambulance was called to the couple’s flat on South Parade, Whitley Bay, shortly after midnight.
Prosecutor Mark Giuliani told jurors: “In the bedroom they found Dean Bowe unconscious on the floor.
“The defendant told them Mr Bowe had a fit two or three hours earlier and he had not been in contact earlier because he had to clean him up and neither of them had a mobile phone and he didn’t want to leave him because he was worried he was going to aspirate.
“The paramedics noticed he was covered in bruises, including to his eye. When asked about them, Mr Armstrong said he and Mr Bowe had a history of fighting.
“The defendant maintains Mr Bowe was fatally injured to his head when he fell while having a fit but the Crown say you can be sure it was not a fit and that the cause that made him fall was not as a result of a fit but what in fact happened was the defendant had assaulted him.”
Newcastle Crown Court heard the men met on a Facebook forum for people tackling alcohol issues and began a relationship. All was going well to begin with but they both started drinking again.
Mr Giuliani said: “The relationship deteriorated and became marred, often by violence, often in drink.”
In 2015 they took up a tenancy at the flat on South Parade and on Boxing Day that year police were called and Mr Bowe reported an alleged assault on December 23.