Attacked woman 'trusted' partner

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/north_east/8283810.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A woman alleged to have been attacked by her partner while heavily pregnant with his child told a court she had trusted him implicitly.

Nerys Price, 36, said she had no reservations about changing her will and insurance policy in his favour.

Simon Morris, 37, of Prestatyn, Denbighshire, is accused of hitting Ms Price on the head with a hammer as she lay sleeping at their home.

Mr Morris denies the charges, and the case at Mold Crown Court continues.

Asked how she saw the relationship, she said: "I believed it was secure, loving relationship. I fully trusted him, implicitly."

The court heard how the couple had known each other at school and got together after a slow courtship. At one stage they broke up because he did not want children.

However they got back together and they decided to start a family.

The prosecution case is that Mr Morris wanted to kill Ms Price because he had met another woman and because he had stood to gain financially from her death.

Asked if she would have signed those benefits over to him if she had known about his other relationship, Ms Price replied: "Absolutely not".

The prosecution said Ms Price was the victim of an attempt by Mr Morris to kill her by striking her twice with the blunt end of a hammer.

She was 38 weeks pregnant at the time.

The court heard Ms Price had emergency surgery after the attack and her daughter was delivered safely by Caesarean section.

Text messages

Mr Morris, a Denbighshire council highways officer, denies attempted murder and the attempted destruction of their unborn child at their home in Prestatyn on 15 August last year.

He says the couple were the victims of intruders.

Earlier on Wednesday, the jury visited the couple's former home and were given the opportunity to look around the bedroom and other rooms in the property.

The court has heard Mr Morris was in a relationship with a woman named Kate Christian, of Tremeirchion, Denbighshire.

The jury had been told there were "hundreds and hundreds" of text messages between the defendant and Ms Christian.

The prosecution claimed Mr Morris had earlier staged an attempted burglary at the home and had told police that he feared that someone may be after Ms Price because she had to lay people off at work.