An Indian-born practitioner of complementary medicine sobbed in the witness-box yesterday during a murder trial at Inner London Crown Court.
Christopher Newman (62), who holds British citizenship, is accused of the murder of Georgina Eager (28), at his clinic in Walkinstown, Dublin, two years ago. UK legislation permits British citizens to be tried in Britain for crimes allegedly committed in other jurisdictions.
Ms Eager, from Trudderbridge, Co Wicklow, was found stabbed to death in May 2003. Mr Newman was arrested in London shortly afterwards and charged with the murder but is claiming he acted in self-defence and that there was provocation.
In his closing re-examination of the witness, defence counsel Andrew Smiler sought to elicit Mr Newman's state of mind at the time of Ms Eager's death. Mr Newman pointed out that he had written a lengthy statement about the case and was assured by Mr Smiler that this would be shown to the jury.
Sobbing, Mr Newman said: "This is the legacy which I want to leave behind." Frequently rambling in his answers, Mr Newman said he felt "just dark" during his final moments with Ms Eager.
Asked if he was calm, Mr Newman said: "I don't know anything." Did he remember his state of mind? "I was too frightened to remember." Appealing to him to give a direct answer, Mr Smiler pointed out that this was the witness's last chance to explain the situation to the jury.
"Somehow . . . knife struck her," Mr Newman said. His counsel reminded him that he was not being asked about the sequence of events but about his state of mind.
Mr Newman: "It was all dark. Panic. I had so much fright." Later he said: "It destroyed my mind." He had just wanted Ms Eager out of his sight. Sobbing again he said he had been extremely abusive.
At one point, Judge Jonathan Van der Werff warned the increasingly frustrated barrister: "If you ask one more leading question, I will tell you to conclude your examination without further ado." The trial is expected to continue until next week.