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Murder trial underway at Supreme Court

The trial of a British national accused of murdering his wife in a flat in Sir William Jackson Grove got underway at the Supreme Court this morning.

Real Lishman, 43, faces one count of murder following the death of Carolina Elizabeth Lishman, 32, in November of 2017.

He denies the allegations.

She was fatally stabbed some 12 times during a violent incident at the former marital home in Apricot Court in Sir William Jackson Grove, an estate also known as Gib V.

A jury of 12 was empanelled to hear the case which is expected to last approximately two weeks.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Christian Rocca, opened the case for the Crown this morning.

Mr Rocca told the jury that the Crown’s case is that Carolina was unlawfully killed by her husband.

The two were separated at the time of the incident and Carolina had been residing with her parents, he told the court adding that she had been to see a lawyer.

He detailed text messages sent by Carolina to her husband in the days leading up to her death which read: “You scare me”, and “I don’t even want to go back to my house alone.”

And the defendant’s response: “I know I can’t be with you in this lifetime, maybe the next”.

Mr Rocca then detailed the injuries sustained by Carolina. These included 12 stab wounds and bruising to her neck indicative of “forceful neck compression”.

Mr Rocca explained that the fatal injury was a stab wound that pierced both her sternum and her heart.

He said the defence would claim that Carolina stabbed the defendant first and that he was acting in self defence.

Mr Lishman also sustained stab wounds in the incident and was rushed to St Bernard’s hospital that night, where he underwent emergency life-saving surgery.

But the self defence argument is a “non-starter”, Mr Rocca told the court.

“He stabbed himself,” he said highlighting the defendant’s small distribution of injuries compared with Carolina’s which “were all over her body”.

Mr Rocca said the Crown would call a forensic pathologist and a forensic scientist.

Defence counsel, Chris Finch, also addressed the jury.

He said this was a “reactive situation” from his client’s perspective and not an “initiating one”.

Mr Finch said the defence would not dispute the injuries but would instead “test the truth of how those injuries were sustained.”

He urged the jury to “concentrate on all of the evidence”.

The Chief Justice Anthony Dudley presides.

The trial continues tomorrow.

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