April 8, 2019 3.52 pm This story is over 67 months old

Savage kick to the head likely cause of holidaymaker’s death

She had a bleed on the brain after being punched and kicked in the head
Caroline Fisher, 52, died after an incident in a bar in Ingoldmells. Photo: Lincolnshire Police

The blow most likely to have led to the death of holidaymaker Caroline Fisher was a kick to her head, a murder trial jury heard today.

Pathologist Dr Michael Biggs told the jury at Lincoln Crown Court that Ms Fisher suffered bleeding underneath the arachnoid membrane within her brain.

That, he said, was typically caused by a blow that resulted in a rapid rotational twisting of the head leading to the injured person falling unconscious “almost immediately”.

The prosecution allege that Ms Fisher, 52, was punched in the head by Sheffield man Leon Wadsworth knocking her to the ground after violence erupted outside the Buzz Bar in the Lincolnshire holiday resort of Ingoldmells.

Hayley Fletcher, who was on holiday with Mr Wadsworth and a group of friends, is then alleged to have twice kicked Ms Fisher to the head.

Mr Biggs was asked if he could say which blow caused her death. He told the jury: “I would favour the second kick as being more likely to have caused this bleeding. However it is not possible to tell pathologically which of these three impacts caused the fatal haemorrhage.

“It could have been the punch. It could have been the first kick, it could have been the second kick or it could have been a combination of two or more of those.”

Under cross-examination from Andrew Campbell-Tiech, representing Wadsworth, the pathologist said that his original report he wrote: “The initial punch is unlikely to have caused the fatal injury,” but he added, “a contribution from the punch cannot be excluded.”

During questioning from Dapinder Singh QC, for Fletcher, Dr Biggs said: “The punch could have caused some damage which then made the kick more likely to finish off the damage.

“The specific mechanism of the twisting of the head does not necessarily require a lot of force.”

Leon Wadsworth, 31, of Milnrow Road, Sheffield, and Hayley Fletcher, 31, of Paper Mill Road, Sheffield, each deny the murder of Caroline Fisher on 21 July 2018.

The jury has been told that Wadsworth has admitted causing actual bodily harm to Michael Wilcox.

The trial continues.