A MAN accused of setting fire to his girlfriend's body to cover up her murder told a jury yesterday that she was alive when he left their north Belfast flat.
Mr Paul James Toland denied that following an argument he had knelt on Ms Sharon King's chest and smothered her. He also denied that he had set fire to the body because he remembered that she had previously tried, to kill herself in England by setting fire to her bed.
Mr Toland (22) is on trial before a Crown Court for the murder of Ms King (19), whose charred body was found in their burnt out flat at Duncairn Gardens early on October 13th, 1992. He is also accused of assaulting her, setting fire to the flat, and perverting the course of justice.
In the witness box yesterday he said that when he left the flat at about 3 a.m. Ms King was lying on a mattress in front of the fire. She was sniffing lighter fuel and drinking Buckfast wine.
Earlier they had had an argument about Ms King being a prostitute, he said. She was also depressed because it was the anniversary of her mother's death, and she thought her mother had committed suicide.
Mr Toland went on. "She took an epileptic or asthmatic fit. I held her wrists tight to her side which stopped her from doing herself any harm. Afterwards she calmed down. She was curled into a ball on the sofa like a small child crying.
"When I left the flat she was curled up on the mattress 21/2 feet from the fire. She was drinking wine and sniffing lighter fuel and the fire was lit."
Mr Toland said he had gone to see friends. Asked why he did not return to Duncairn Gardens earlier, he said. "Stubbornness I suppose."
When he did return and found the fire brigade there, "I made a dash for the flat and got as far as the first floor but was stopped by the firemen. When they told me she was dead I was shattered. I could not believe what was happening."
Questioned about bruising on Ms King's body, he denied assaulting her and claimed he only held on to her wrists.
Mr Toland wept as he told Mr Justice Higgins that they had planned to get married and that he had persuaded her to get treatment for her addiction to lighter fuel. "I knew if she stopped sniffing gas she would stop being on the game", he added.
The trial continues today.