Murder accused denies kicking ex-partner’s head
SUSTAINED ATTACK CAUSED ‘CATASTROPHIC’ BRAIN INJURIES, COURT TOLD
A FORMER cage fighter denied kicking his ex-partner’s head “as if it were a football” with his steelcap boots.
Prosecutors say Paul Robson subjected teacher Caroline Kayll, 47, to a sustained attack that left her with catastrophic brain injuries.
But her 50-year-old former partner denied that he inflicted the fatal head injuries, slashed her buttocks and tried to murder her 15-year-old lover at her home in Linton, Northumberland.
Robson is accused of “snapping” after finding messages showing Caroline was in a sexual relationship with the boy.
Prosecutor Nicholas Lumley QC, who asked Robson about his experience of cage fighting and mixed martial arts, said to him: “To kick somebody in the head as they lie on the floor is a very dangerous thing to do, do you agree?”
Robson, in his third day giving evidence at Newcastle Crown Court, agreed it could cause lifechanging injuries or kill someone.
Mr Lumley said: “It looks like someone has done that to Caroline.”
Robson replied: “It was not me, I would not have done that.”
Mr Lumley suggested Caroline must have been knocked to the floor before being kicked and asked Robson: “Was she crawling around on the floor, dazed and desperate to get away from you?” Robson said: “No.”
The prosecutor said: “There were kicks to the side of her head as she lay on the ground as if her head were a football.” Robson replied: “I don’t know.” Mr Lumley asked: “You didn’t do that?”
Robson replied: “No.”
Mr Lumley said: “Her head and brain being violently twisted, causing catastrophic brain injuries. Not by you and your steel-cap boots?”
Robson said: “I would not do that.”
Mr Lumley: “Her hands desperately trying to protect her head getting kicked and stamped on.” Robson: “I didn’t do that.” Mr Lumley: “Then kicks into her pretty face, Mr Robson?” Robson: “I didn’t do it.” Mr Lumley: “Her eyes and mouth. Is it coming back to you?” Robson: “No.”
The prosecutor said: “Multiple forceful blows time and again into her face?”
Robson: “No.”
Mr Lumley: “It was the scrawny schoolboy in his socks, was it?”
Robson: “I didn’t see it but it wasn’t me.”
Mr Lumley: “Did you then go upstairs and make that poor lad pay?”
Robson: “No.”
Asked why he took him downstairs after leaving him injured, Robson said: “To make sure he was not doing anything else. I needed to see if Caroline was OK.”
Mr Lumley: “Did you drag him downstairs to show him what you had done?”
Robson: “No, I didn’t.” Mr Lumley: “Did you make him watch as you cut off Caroline’s hair?”
Robson: “That’s not true.” Mr Lumley: “Did you make him watch as you pulled down her trousers and knickers and watch as you drew a large kitchen knife across her bottom?” Robson: “Not true.”
Mr Lumley: “Did you want to leave a final permanent mark on her body?”
Robson: “I would not do that to Caroline.”
Mr Lumley: “She was face down, her bottom exposed, that final permanent mark left by you across her buttocks.”
Robson: “I can’t be sure that’s how she was left when I went to get Barbara. I thought I had turned her over and tried to give her mouth-to-mouth.”
Mr Lumley: “There’s blood on the ceiling, his blood. Did you swing the cleaver above your head and bring it down on his [the youth’s] head?”
Robson: “I just wanted him to stop. He was screaming, shouting, spitting at me, telling me to f*** off. “I just wanted him to stop.” Mr Lumley: “Did you want to shut him up for good?” Robson: “No.”
Robson was also asked about purchases he made at Homebase before he left Glasgow on November 15, including ammonia.
Asked why he took the ammonia, which he said he bought for work he was doing on a pub, with him to Caroline’s home, he said he didn’t want to leave it at the pub in case dogs bit into it.
Mr Lumley said: “Were there no shelves above dog height in the pub? I could see it about a packet of sausages, perhaps, but what do dogs find attractive about a bottle of chemicals?”
Robson, of Stanley Street, Howdon, Wallsend, denies murder, attempted murder and blackmail.
The trial continues.