The owner of a Dublin alternative therapies clinic killed a young Co Wicklow woman in the course of a personal and bitter argument in which she mocked their relationship and his sexual performance, a London jury heard yesterday.
The court was told by counsel for Christopher Newman, who practised under the name of Prof Saph Dean in Dublin, that Georgina Eager (28) had picked up a knife during the row and had been stabbed in the ensuing struggle.
Andrew Smiler contended that there had been a "see-saw struggle" over the knife. He accepted his client continued to stab Ms Eager after her death.
Mr Newman has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Eager at her flat in Walkinstown in May 2003.
Mr Newman (63) is being tried at the Inner London Crown Court under legislation which allows him to stand trial in Britain for an offence allegedly committed in another jurisdiction.
Opening the defence case yesterday, Mr Smiler said that following her employment at the clinic in the summer of 2002, Mr Newman had been happy to allow Ms Eager to handle the business side of the enterprise. However he said that by spring 2003 he had become increasingly concerned about her role.
Mr Newman believed Ms Eager was becoming unstable, acting irrationally and that the stress was becoming too much. While he had strong feelings for Ms Eager, his feelings for the clinic were deeper and more strongly rooted.
Mr Smiler said that on May 21st, the couple had a row following which he believed that Ms Eager had left for her parents' house in Co Wicklow. The following morning, however, he saw her car parked at the clinic.
A further row developed on the morning of May 22nd. Mr Smiler said Mr Newman had made "mocking comments" about whether she needed any help to pack. She had responded that she had spent the night making love to her boyfriend. She added that his client could not make love without pills.
Mr Newman was in bed when the row developed and Ms Eager had picked up a hammer and had thrown it at him. While the hammer had not injured him, the row rapidly became "bitter and personal".
Mr Smiler said Ms Eager had told his client that he had promised he would leave her the clinic. "'I was sleeping with you all the time, giving you all the sex you wanted. You promised me you would go. You promised me that you would leave me the clinic. You are going back on your word. You used me,'" Mr Smiler said Ms Eager had told his client.
She had further maintained: "Didn't you think I had better things to do with my time than sleeping with an old man who can't keep it up without pills?"
Mr Newman was terribly upset and said he was going to tell her parents that she was "a cheap slut" and "a filthy woman". When Mr Newman reached for his phone, Ms Eager picked up a knife and said: "Don't you dare call my parents."
His client was scared he knew that Ms Eager could lose her temper. Mr Newman was lying on his back in bed and had raised his arms to defend himself. He said there was a "see-saw" struggle over the knife. Finally Ms Eager thought someone was coming into the room and she relaxed her pressure on the knife. However Mr Newman continued to maintain his pressure and the knife had severed an artery in her neck.
Mr Smiler said Ms Eager had probably died within 60 seconds but that in her death throes she had been like a raging tornado with superhuman strength. Mr Newman believed he was in a life-and-death struggle.
He accepted that Mr Newman continued to stab her long after she was dead. He could not say why this had happened. His client had "crossed the Rubicon that separates civilised behaviour from an animal struggling for survival".