A man accused of murdering a young Wicklow woman two years ago lost €1,900 in one hour in a Dublin casino just hours before she died, a London jury was told yesterday.
It also heard that Christopher Newman (63) was so drunk when arrested in London shortly after Georgina Eager was killed that police officers had to lift him out of a taxi cab. He was incoherent and unable to stand up.
Mr Newman has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Eager (28), on May 22nd, 2003. Her body was found with multiple stab wounds in the bedroom of her flat on St Peter's Road, Walkinstown, next door to the alternative therapies clinic run by Mr Newman, who was known in Dublin as "Prof Saph Dean".
Ms Eager worked at the clinic and also had a personal relationship with Mr Newman, the court has been told.
An Indian-born British national, he is being tried at the Inner London Crown Court under legislation that allows him to be tried in Britain for an offence allegedly committed in another jurisdiction.
Friends of Georgina Eager described her in court yesterday as a pleasant and gentle woman. They said they had never seen her become angry or aggressive.
The jury also heard detailed evidence about Mr Newman's movements immediately prior to and after Ms Eager's death. In a statement read to the court, Sylvia Mead, the manager of the 78 Club casino on Aungier Street, Dublin, said Mr Newman visited the casino, where he was a member, in the early hours of May 22nd, 2003.
He spent only about an hour, which was unusual, as he would normally arrive at 8pm and stay until midnight, or sometimes until 6am. He looked quite agitated, she said, and was on the phone for about 20 minutes to half an hour, which again was unusual as he normally took his gambling seriously and concentrated on what he was doing.
In the hour he was there he lost €1,900 at the American roulette table. He then took loose change from his pocket and tried gambling with that. Ms Mead said she returned the change to him, but he tried to put the money back on the table. "I let him. He lost. He then got up and left the club."
The jury has already been told that while Mr Newman was in the club, between about 3am and 4am, he made several calls to Ms Eager, who was driving south, presumably to her family in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow. Phone records show that when she was nearly home she turned round and drove back to Walkinstown.
She was killed probably between the hours of 5am and 9.30am. Later that day Mr Newman withdrew €1,200 from bank accounts in Ms Eager's name and flew to London.
In another statement read yesterday his ex-wife, Mafida Louhichi, said Mr Newman called to her home in Islington, where she lived with their two sons, at about 6pm that evening.
He was talking of committing suicide and said they would read all about it in the papers the next day. She tried to joke with him and asked what he had done that was so terrible.
She eventually asked him to leave because he kept repeating himself and would not say what he had done.
William O'Brien, a London cab-driver, said he picked up Mr Newman in Islington shortly before 10pm and was asked to drive to Westminster Bridge. On the way there Mr Newman, who talked a lot but was difficult to understand because his words were slurred, purchased a bottle of champagne at an off-licence.
On getting back into the cab he fell on the floor. He got back up, opened the champagne with his teeth and "it went all over the place". When he got to Westminster Bridge Mr Newman got him to drive to one end of the bridge, then back to the other, then back again. Three police officers then approached and carried Mr Newman from the cab.
The trial continues on Monday.