Attack accused 'acted strangely'

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A police officer called to a house after a heavily pregnant woman was attacked with a hammer said her partner did not behave in the "expected way".

Simon Morris, 36, is on trial at Mold Crown Court accused of attempting to murder his girlfriend Nerys Price and attempted child destruction.

Sgt John Rowlands said after arriving at the couple's home he initially thought it was a "domestic" incident.

Mr Morris, of Prestatyn, Denbighshire, denies the charges.

Ms Price, 35, recovered after neurosurgery and her daughter Freya was born successfully by emergency Caesarean section, the trial has been told.

Giving evidence, Sgt Rowlands described the circumstances surrounding the incident as "unusual."

He also said Mr Morris's behaviour was not what was expected for a man whose partner had been injured and needed hospital treatment.

Sgt Rowlands said a colleague mouthed the word "domestic" and he nodded in agreement.

Nerys Price suffered two skull fractures in the attack

Defending, Nicholas Johnson QC said there was no way Mr Morris could have known Ms Price had suffered two skull fractures at that point because her injuries did not seem serious.

Mr Johnson also suggested the officers had not kept an open mind towards the investigation and had potentially contaminated the crime scene.

The prosecution has alleged that there were two motives for Mr Morris wanting to kill his partner.

Patrick Harrington QC said the first was that he was in a relationship with another woman.

Secondly, he said Mr Morris had "planned and plotted" and "put himself in a position where he would have inherited hundreds of thousands of pounds".

The jury heard Ms Price, a divorcee, earned almost £50,000 as a human resources manager.

Shortly before the attack on 15 August 2008, she had made Mr Morris the sole beneficiary of a £145,000 "death in service" award if she died.

The trial, expected to last two weeks, continues.