Man killed partner on their one-year anniversary

Christine Everett-Hickson, known as Chrissie, was killed by her partner of one year

Warning - this story contains distressing content

A man killed his girlfriend on their one-year anniversary by repeatedly banging her head against the floor, causing brain damage, a trial has heard.

Kain Tailby, 31, has already admitted the manslaughter of Chrissie Everett-Hickson but is on trial for her murder.

For him to be found guilty, the prosecution must prove Tailby intended to cause his girlfriend serious harm when he assaulted her at their home in Riddings, Derbyshire.

Tailby attacked his 21-year-old partner in the early hours of 18 February 2024 and she died in hospital five days later.

Mary Prior KC, prosecuting, described the assault to jurors at Derby Crown Court.

"He shouted at her and immediately used his hands around her neck to lift her head from the floor on several occasions, and hit her head back on to the floor with enough force that their downstairs neighbour heard five to six banging noises and left his flat to call the police," said Mrs Prior.

"After the assault, Kain Tailby put Chrissie in the bath to remove the blood that had started leaking from her ear.

"He then left her in the bath, sat on the stairs and called for the police and ambulance services to attend."

Ms Everett-Hickson was attacked at her first-floor flat in Greenhill Lane, Riddings, jurors heard

Ms Everett-Hickson was taken to hospital and examined in the accident and emergency department.

"The clinical impression was that she had a devastating brain injury," said Mrs Prior.

As well as brain damage, she had a fractured skull and extensive bruising to her face, limbs and body.

She was placed on life support, Mrs Prior said, but deteriorated in the hospital.

"She remained unresponsive to stimuli. Her brain continued to swell, pushing the brain out of the skull cavity," said Mrs Prior.

It was agreed on 22 February that life support should be withdrawn, following organ donation.

Ms Everett-Hickson died at 00:39 GMT on 23 February.

'Aggravated by cat'

When interviewed by police, Tailby said he had been in a bad mood on the day of their anniversary due to a cat.

"We have two cats and one of them is a bit temperamental with me, like one minute she's all right, next minute she absolutely hates me," he told police.

"And she went through one of the hate phases and it aggravated me."

He said they had planned to celebrate their anniversary by going to the cinema in Derby but got on the wrong bus.

"So I had a bit of a mood on [due to the cat], we got on the bus, what we thought would be Derby, but it didn't," he said.

"We got off at Ripley and that aggravated me some more, so I says 'I'm not going to Derby now I'm going home', picked some cans of beer up, gave her one, drank the rest on the walk home and err, we decided we'd go to pub instead."

A neighbour living downstairs heard Ms Everett-Hickson's head being banged against the floor

After going to the pub, they walked home to their first-floor flat in Greenhill Lane.

Within an hour of them getting home, their downstairs neighbour heard shouting and screaming, Mrs Prior told the court.

The argument went on for about 10 minutes before the neighbour heard five or six "boom noises", Mrs Prior said, and then everything went quiet.

"Steven [the neighbour] then heard music playing and then gurgling noises," Mrs Prior said.

"He heard Kain Tailby say 'don't do this to me! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!'"

The neighbour texted a friend saying he was "seriously concerned" for Ms Everett-Hickson, then went outside to call the emergency services.

However, an ambulance arrived before he could do so, as Tailby had phoned 999 himself, the court heard.

In the call, which was played to jurors, Tailby claimed his partner had "got a bit physical", so he "got a bit physical back".

"Things escalated from one thing to another and she got pushy and shovey. I retaliated back," he said.

Story changed

Police attended and Tailby was arrested.

When interviewed, he claimed his girlfriend had slapped him.

"How did you feel when she slapped you?" he was asked.

He replied: "Angry. Really angry."

He told police he shouted at her not to do it again, while pinning her to the floor with his hands around her throat.

He initially told police he had "banged her head once".

However, his version of events changed in subsequent interviews the following day, after he was told about the five or six noises his neighbour heard, the court was told.

Tailby then agreed he had banged her head on the floor five or six times.

"He knew what he was doing, he had a clear recollection of it," Mrs Prior told jurors.

"He heard the noise it made, he noticed that she was not moving. Her eyes were closed, she was groaning. He carried on until he saw the blood coming from her ear.

"What else, we say, in those circumstances, could he have intended to cause her other than at least really serious bodily harm?"

The trial continues.