Carl Tindall manslaughter trial: Girlfriend tells court of relationship problems

Sarah Hurmson, aged 36 of Greig Court, Heath Hayes, spoke of her eight month on-off relationship with the late Carl Tindall, who died of serious head injuries following an attack on August 22 last year.

Sarah, who denies assisting an offender alongside sister Louise Hurmson, aged 32, and Anthony Boddison, aged 26 of St Peter's Gardens, appeared at Stafford Crown court on Tuesday.

Also on trial is Jamie Sleigh, aged 36, of St John's Road, Cannock, who denies manslaughter.

On August 22, the court heard how 35-year-old Tindall, of Brockton, arrived at an address in Plant Crescent in an attempt to get in touch with Sarah, who had blocked him on her phone.

The prosecution alleges that Sleigh opened the door to Tindall, punching him once to the face before hitting him again.

Neighbours said it caused him to hit his head on the bonnet on a BMW then the ground.

Prosecutor James Curtis then alleges that Tindall was bundled into the BMW and dumped on Cull Avenue, 0.3 miles from the Weston Road entrance of Stafford County Hospital.

He was found by passers-by including an off duty nurse and taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital where he died of a brain haemorrhage and a fractured skull in the critical care unit two days later.

The court heard how Tindall had lived with Sarah in Brocton along with their dog.

They were planning to go on holiday together and move into a property closer to Tindall's work. However, Hurmson claimed Tindall was possessive, accusing her of cheating on him with co-workers and her sister's boyfriend, Boddison. She had rearranged the holiday with a female friend and was in the process of moving into her parents' house when she decided to go to her sister Louise's house in Plant Crescent with Boddison and Sleigh. The group had been drinking at the Crystal Fountain pub in Cannock before going to the house where the violence unfolded.

Sarah explained that she had blocked contact from Tindall on the morning of August 22, last speaking to him on Wednesday of that week. She claimed Tindall had sent her relentless text messages stating that the dog was ill and she should come back to care for it. In a statement made during a police interview read out at court, Sarah said: "He's said that before and I've panicked and rushed back and it's not been true.

"I blocked him so he couldn't call me and so I went to my sister's after the pub.

"When he couldn't contact me he started on Louise and Ant - he called and screamed at Ant saying we'd been sleeping together."

The court heard how Sarah had in fact slept with Sleigh around three times in the last five years, though Sleigh had a pregnant girlfriend.

"I should have gone out and spoken to him, then we wouldn't be here" Sarah added in her statement made to police, read to the court by Detective Graham Tomlinson.