Lover beat me, says man accused of murder

A manager at Wolverhampton College accused of stabbing his partner to death told colleagues he had been the victim of attacks at her hands, a court heard.

Stephen Dowds initially told fellow staff that scratches on his face, neck and arms had been inflicted when trying to break up a fight between a couple on a camping trip, jurors were told.

But after he split up with Mandy Finn, who he denies murdering, he told a colleague that she had set upon him in a pub.

Dowds, aged 49, denies stabbing Miss Finn to death at the home they were sharing on Newhampton Road West, Whitmore Reans, in November last year.

The student services manager says he has no memory of what happened to 40-year-old psychology lecturer Miss Finn, who is survived by her two daughters.

Wolverhampton Crown Court has heard that Dowds and Miss Finn had a stormy 18-month relationship, which was punctuated by bouts of heavy drinking and violence.

Giving evidence for the defence yesterday, Rosemary Urkovskis, teaching and learning manager at the college's Bilston campus, said Dowds had returned to work from a summer break in 2009 with "lots of injuries".

She said: "There were scratches on his face, neck and arms and there was a nasty bruise on his face. There were imprints of fingers that you could see on his neck."

She told the court Dowds had initially claimed that he had broken up a fight on a camping trip. But staff noticed more injuries to Dowds, himself a father-of-two, over time.

Miss Urkovskis said: "Every time I saw him, he seemed to have another set of scratches or he was limping. He had a few black eyes, his spectacles were broken — every time we saw him there was something else."

However, after the pair split up Dowds changed his story and claimed Miss Finn had attacked him on a number of occasions.

Former Regis School teacher Dowds is expected to give evidence today.