Murder accused ‘woke from seizure with arm on partner’s neck’ in Great Yarmouth

A man accused of murdering his partner claimed he ‘came-to’ after a seizure and found his arm on her throat.

Adam Barnard, 41, told Norwich Crown Court he had been sleeping off a drink and drugs binge when his girlfriend, Tara Kershaw, attacked him with a lamp.

He said he attempted to defend himself and then blacked out. Under cross examination, he accused Ms Kershaw of deliberately trying to trigger his epilepsy.

The prosecution accused him of creating a false account and alleged he had “made this up to put flesh on the bones” of his story.

Mr Barnard said the incident started when he woke up in bed to find his partner attacking him.

He then said he blacked out and told the court: “I can’t remember exactly what happened – nine times out of 10 that is because of a seizure.”

He added that in self-defence he had “held her down by the neck. I don’t know how long. As soon as I felt her go limp, I stopped”.

Mr Barnard handed himself over to the police more than 24 hours after the incident, the jury was told.

The 41-year-old is accused of murdering Ms Kershaw, 33, at their home in Princes Road, Great Yarmouth, on 19 January this year.

He also faced another count of manslaughter. He pled not guilty to both.

The court had previously heard how the day before the mother-of-two had died, she had called the police to report Mr Barnard had been violent towards her.

A post-mortem found that her death was consistent with compression to the neck and there was evidence of other neck injuries from the weeks before.

Mr Barnard spent the day under cross-examination by the prosecution.

Stephen Spence, for the Crown, put it to him that he had “grabbed her by the throat, your preferred method of dealing with women, and you strangled her”.

He continued: “To kill her you must have kept the pressure on her for quite a period of time. Doctors say two minutes. Let us have two minutes silence”.

He then asked the court room to remain silent.

When asked why he did not call an ambulance after he realised his partner had stopped breathing, Mr Barnard said he had panicked and that he felt scared.

He told the court that he had attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after checking her pulse.

“As soon as I came around, I tried to save her,” he said.

Mr Spence questioned why he did not call out to the other people in the house.

Mr Barnard replied: “I was scared. Lots of thoughts were going through my head. Panic.”

The prosecutor responded and said: “The reason you did not call an ambulance was because you realised what you had done.”

The jury heard that on the evening Ms Kershaw died, the accused had taken drugs and drunk a bottle of vodka along with six cans of strong cider.

Mr Barnard told the jury that during what had been a volatile relationship, Ms Kershaw would attack him deliberately to induce seizures.

“You’re trying to make out to the jury you are the victim,” Mr Spence said.

The trial continues.