Murder accused was banned from contact, court told

Lisa Welford died after being pulled unconscious from the River Derwent in April

A man accused of murdering his "on-off" partner had been banned from contacting her weeks before she died, a trial has heard.

Lisa Welford, 49, died in hospital on 25 April after she had been pulled unconscious from the River Derwent in Malton, North Yorkshire, the previous night.

Vincent Morgan, 47, is accused of murder and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Ms Welford, all of which he denies.

Leeds Crown Court was told Ms Welford, who was also known as Lisa Smith, had been granted a domestic violence protection order against Mr Morgan on 6 April.

Opening the prosecution case on the first day of the trial, Craig Hassall KC told a jury that Mr Morgan had a "history of violence" against Ms Welford, with whom it was said he had had an "on-off relationship" over several years.

The court was told that Ms Welford had spoken to the police from her mother's home on 4 April this year and told them she had had a clump of her hair ripped out and a tooth knocked out as a result of assaults by the defendant.

Two days later, York Magistrates' Court issued an order prohibiting Mr Morgan, of Chandlers Wharf, Castlegate in Malton, from contacting Ms Welford directly or indirectly.

Footage played to the jury showed the pair appearing to walk down Railway Street in Malton towards the banks of the river

However, the prosecution said Mr Morgan breached the order on 24 April and spent the day drinking with Ms Welford at various locations across North Yorkshire.

At around 20:30 BST that evening, the pair were captured on CCTV getting off a bus at Malton Bus Station, where they had travelled from York, it was said.

Footage played to the jury showed Ms Welford then making the short walk to the river bank along Railway Street, with Mr Morgan appearing to follow closely behind.

They were then believed to have spent some time together on a bench next to the river.

At around 23:30 BST that evening, Ms Welford was pulled from the water by a member of the public and a police officer and Mr Morgan was arrested at the scene.

Although paramedics managed to restart her heart, she had suffered irreversible brain damage and was pronounced dead the following morning.

The court was told Mr Morgan initially told the emergency services Ms Welford had deliberately entered the water in an effort to take her own life, but then later claimed she had slipped on the riverbank and fell in.

A post-mortem examination found Ms Welford had sustained several injuries, including a broken thigh bone, although her cause of death was established as drowning.

The trial continues.

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