The trial of a British man charged with the murder of Co Wicklow woman in Dublin in 2003 opened in London today.
Mr Christopher Newman (62) formerly of St Peter's Road, Walkinstown, Dublin, and now of Catford, south-east London, is accused of stabbing to death his young lover, Ms Georgina Eager (28), in her flat in Walkinstown on or before May 22nd.
It is said to be the first time in modern legal history that a person has been tried in a British court for a serious crime committed in Ireland. Under a rarely invoked section of the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861, a British subject can be indicted for murder or manslaughter in England and Wales even when he commits the offence outside the jurisdiction.
Ms Eager was considering leaving Mr Newman, who she worked for at his Dublin alternative therapy clinic when she was killed, the jury was told today.
Mr Newman withdrew €1,200 from her bank account and fled to London after repeatedly knifing her, Michael Birnbaum QC, prosecuting, told Inner London Crown Court.
Gardaí had to break down the door to her ground floor bedroom following her death in May 2003, the court also heard. Jurors were told they found her face-down with a knife in the back of her neck.
A post mortem examination showed she had been stabbed 29 times. After being arrested, drunk, Mr Newman denied killing her, Mr Birnbaum said. "He told police that he couldn't believe that she was dead and he definitely hadn't killed her," he told the jury. The defendant denies murder, pleading self-defence.
The court heard the defendant ran a clinic in Dublin offering alternative therapies in St Peter's Road in the Walkinstown area of the city. Ms Eager worked alongside him there and the pair also had a sexual relationship, the court heard. She lived in a house next door to the clinic rented from him.
Mr Birnbaum said: "In early 2003 Georgina was considering leaving both her job and the defendant.
"The couple were seen by witnesses arguing with each other in St Peter's Road on May 23rd.
"Some time after that argument the defendant attacked her in her bedroom with a knife that he had taken from the kitchen at the clinic.
"He inflicted upon her multiple stab wounds from which she died."
Following his initial denials he has now admitted killing her. Mr Birnbaum said: "He now believes that he killed her but it was self-defence. She was the one that was attacking him."
Mr Newman was born Panna Lal Palta in India in 1942 and moved to Britain 20 years later, emigrating to Ireland in the early 1990s. During this time he adopted the name Saph Dean and took to calling himself "Professor" although it was unclear whether he had any qualifications entitling him to do so, the prosecution said.
He also developed a successful business selling treatment tables for massage. Mr Birnbaum said: "Georgina herself regarded him as a very learned man who had taught her a great deal." Others had a different opinion of him.
"He could be charming but also at times very arrogant and domineering," Mr Birnbaum said. Georgina, who graduated from Limerick University with a degree in European Studies, left her job as a make-up artist in summer 2002 to go and work for Mr Newman quickly coming to play a key role at his clinic.
When he arrived in London that evening he visited his ex-wife in Islington and told her he had made a "big mistake". He said he was going to kill himself and took a taxi to Westminster Bridge, buying a bottle of champagne on the way.
He was arrested for being drunk and taken to Kennington Police Station in south London and later arrested over Ms Eager's murder after detectives contacted gardaí.
Blood was found on a jacket, his trousers and the heels of both his shoes. He also had the key to the bedroom, where Ms Eager's body was found, in his pocket, the jury was told.
Mr Newman, dressed smartly in a dark suit, white shirt and dark tie, held his head in his hands as the case against him was opened today. The trial is expected to last between four and five weeks and was adjourned until tomorrow.