Vulnerable Lee Irving had 60 separate injuries all over his body after alleged murder
Murder trial hears long list of injuries suffered by Lee Irving, who was allegedly killed in Kenton Bar by James Wheatley and Barry Imray
Lee Irving
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Vulnerable Lee Irving had 60 separate injuries all over his body after allegedly being murdered in a campaign of violence.
Prosecutors say the 24-year-old was killed with stamps, kicks, and punches by James Wheatley and Barry Imray in at least two attacks.
Jurors heard Lee, who was allegedly sedated during the violence, also had various drugs in his system at the time of death, including morphine, cocaine, cannabis, anti psychotic medication, anxiety drugs and a legal high, most of which were at low levels.
The doctor who carried out a post mortem on him found a total of 60 injuries all over his body and said he died from respiratory failure.
Dr Nigel Cooper, a forensic pathologist, said there were more than 20 fractures to Lee's ribs as well as broken bones in his face.
Asked about the degree of force required to inflict multiple fractures to the rib cage, Dr Cooper told Newcastle Crown Court: "In the absence of any weakness in the bones, a very significant amount of force would be needed to produce that many fractures.
"It's more often the sort of thing you get with a car crash or somebody jumping from a tall building."
Asked about the likely cause of the rib injuries, Dr Cooper says it was possible for a rib to be broken with punches or a weapon.
He added: "But in my experience the most likely explanation for this sort of pattern and number of rib fractures is kicking and or stamping."
Lee Irving (Image: NEC)
The pathologist said Lee had suffered multiple facial, scalp and neck injuries, including bruises, grazes, tears and fractures to his nose and face, as well as bruises to his abdomen, chest, arms and legs.
He had 21 rib fractures which were six to ten days old, three that were 12 to 36 hours old, a rib which had been re-fractured and three old fractures.
Lee had also suffered a tear in his chest cavity, fluid on his chest, bruising to his lung, head injuries and a superficial tear to his spleen.
Dr Cooper said: "Clearly there had been at least two episodes during which Lee had sustained serious injuries.
"Of those, the first was the most violent and most of the serious injuries were sustained during that episode, an enormous number of rib fractures, severe damage to the face, including damage to the facial bones."
The pathologist said that the multiple rib fractures after the first alleged attack would have been "acutely painful".
He said: "In the absence of alcohol and pain relieving drugs I can only imagine he would be in agony."
Dr Cooper said multiple rib fractures made breathing difficult and would leave a person at risk of respiratory failure and said morphine may add to the risk but that it was the physical injuries which killed Lee.
James Wheatley, Julie Mills and Nicole Lawrence
The patholgoist said: "All I can say is the drugs may have contributed to the respiratory failure which caused his death but I'm certainly not sure. It's more likely they did not contribute than they did.
"I don't believe the drugs alone can explain Lee's death."
He added: "The severity of the chest injuries mean that Lee was vulnerable to anything that might further impair his breathing.
"In that context, of a very vulnerable person, the side effects of morphine in particular might be relevant.
"But if he had not sustained those physical injuries he would not have died when he did."
Prosecutors say Lee was murdered by housemates Wheatley and Imray at their home on Studdon Walk, Kenton Bar, Newcastle, last June.
His body was then taken in a pushchair and dumped on a patch of grass near the A1 at Fawdon, the court has heard.
Wheatley, 28, and Imray, 34, have admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and Imray has admitted carrying out acts intended to pervert the course of justice. Both deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.
Mills, 51, and Lawrence, 21, deny causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.