A drug addict found dead with a broken jaw had been attacked, a medical expert said yesterday.
Robert Parkin, 29, - known to his friends as Swampy - had his jaw and cheekbone broken in three places, said Derek Pounder, a professor of Forensic Medicine at Dundee University. He was found dead in a Teesside flat on May 9.
The professor said that the assault was a significant contributing factor in his death.
But Teesside Crown Court heard that Swampy was also critically ill from injecting drugs. He said the assault was a significant contributing factor in the death, in a flat in Shaftesbury Street, Stockton.
On trial, denying his murder on May 8, are Steven Small 33,of Holborn Park, Stockton, and Brian Lancaster, 32, originally from Hartlepool but of no fixed address.
They also deny causing him grievous bodily harm with intent four days earlier.
On Monday, a woman, Shelley Hill, 24, of Lancaster Road, Grangetown, was found not guilty of murder. She was discharged.
The trial is continuing.
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