A PATHOLOGIST questioned the version of events given by a man who denies murdering his former partner.

Simon Meecham is alleged to have killed Leanne Meecham after she ended their relationship.

He said he took a knife to her Westcliff home to kill himself, but there was a struggle between them and she received fatal injuries.

But according to pathologist Dr Ola Biedrzycki this scenario was thought to be unlikely, due to the injuries 26- year-old Leanne received.

A Chelmsford Crown Court jury heard yesterday how Dr Biedrzycki had difficulty in carrying out the post-mortem examination as surgeons had operated on Leanne when she was first admitted to hospital and had repaired her injuries.

As she died a week later, the healing process had already begun and this also made it difficult for the pathologist, the court heard.

Dr Biedrzycki confirmed the cause of death as a “sharp force injury’’ to the windpipe and there was also another stab wound to the chest.

The doctor was shown Meecham’s defence case statement in which he claimed Leanne received the injuries by accident in the struggle to disarm him.

Dr Biedrzycki told the jury his findings did not agree with this scenario. He said: “I find it difficult to reconcile two stab wounds with two accidental events.’’ The trial has heard Leanne was attacked at her home in Park Street, Westcliff, in February and died a week later on February 20.

She had ended her relationship with 42-year-old Meecham, of Rosewood Lane, Shoebury, and refused to take him back, saying she had moved on with her life.

The prosecution alleged Meecham murdered Leanne when she told him this.

After leaving the scene, Meecham stabbed himself three times, the court heard.

The trial continues.