Overview

• Prosecutor Dr Robert Chapman told jurors that Mickleburgh suffered a pre-mortem skull fracture near her right eye socket and endured 30 seconds of neck compression consistent with severe throttling.
• The court heard that a blouse worn by Mickleburgh had faint blood stains which forensics concluded had been washed, indicating possible tampering of evidence.
• Cartwright told the jury that he lent Mickleburgh funds for a property project and that her debt to him had grown to about £100,000 by the time of her death.
• He denies charges of rape, murder, and a single count of controlling and coercive behaviour spanning May 2022 to April 2024.
• Jurors must now reconcile conflicting accounts of an accidental fall, deliberate violence, and a financial dispute as the trial continues.