Gosport murder trial: Killer 'did not stab his brother hard' during fatal struggle

Andrew Oliver, 53, suffered two stab wounds to his chest after a fight over pillowcases with brother Mark Oliver, 56, at the Harwood Road home they shared with their mum Jean in Bridgemary, Gosport, on the afternoon of February 1.

Pathologist Dr Basil Purdue told Winchester Crown Court injuries sustained by both brothers were ‘typical of a fight’ but said it was ‘impossible’ to know if the fatal blow was intended to kill Andrew.

A diagram was shown to the court revealing the fatal blow to the left nipple, another wound on the left chest, two ‘clean cuts’ on the right cheek and a blunt force injury behind the left ear on the scalp - possibly due to collapsing.

Dr Purdue said: ‘Mild to moderate force (on Andrew) was used on the face and chest - there was no great force.’

Dr Purdue went on to say he couldn’t say what the postures were of the men during the struggle. ‘It was a dynamic situation,’ he said.

‘It’s not possible to say how the knife entered the body. It could be a combination of the body moving onto the knife or the knife moving to the body.’

However he did say the knife entered the body through the ribs and ‘into the main pumping chamber of heart’.

He estimated the knife could have reached a depth of 5-7cm.

‘It would have caused real damage to the interference of the circulation which stopped the heart beating,’ Dr Purdue said.

‘If doctors get there quick enough they can sometimes save lives. In this instance they did not arrive soon enough.’

The pathologist told the court Andrew suffered superficial and underlying damage to his right hand that were consistent with ‘heavy punches’.

Meanwhile Mark Oliver had suffered ‘reddening’ to the neck, a black eye, lips, shoulder and left forearm.

SEE ALSO: Mother describes what happened when Mark Oliver stabbed his brother Andrew

‘Collectively the injuries were typical of a fight or struggle of moderate intensity,’ Dr Purdue said.

Simon Sampson, a forensic dentist who assessed whether Oliver had bite marks from his injuries, said injuries to his arm were a ‘possible bite’.

He said: ‘You have to decide if it was a bite or injury caused by teeth that may not be caused by a physical bite.’

Referring to an injury on the back he said: ‘I can’t say injury to his back was caused by teeth.’

He added there was ‘insufficient clarity of pattern to allow a comparison with a suspect’ over any possible teeth marks.

Mark Oliver denies murder.

(Proceeding)