A MAN accused of throwing a young mother off a multi-storey car park made threats to kill her minutes before she died, a court has been told.

Teresa Parkin, 29, originally from Colburn, North Yorkshire, died on June 10, last year, after she fell 80ft from a bridge linking the car park to a shopping centre, in Torquay, Devon.

Her partner, Shaun Foley, 45, from Torquay, denies murder and yesterday appeared at Exeter Crown Court for the first day of his trial.

Witnesses gave evidence saying they had seen a man matching Mr Foley’s description shouting: “I’m going to kill that slag”, in the street near the pub the pair had been drinking in. Foley denies it was him.

The jury also watched CCTV footage of Ms Parkin’s last moments, which showed the pair arguing before she plunged to her death.

The cameras show the mother-ofone being hit to the ground by Mr Foley and then accompanying him to the bridge from where she fell on to a concrete roof below.

The crucial moment when she went over the railings was not captured by cameras.

Michael Fitton QC, prosecuting, told the jury: “There was only one other person with her at the moment she went over the railing and that was the defendant.”

Lawyers for Mr Foley will argue that Ms Parkin committed suicide after becoming depressed about the relationship with her ten-year-old son.

The court heard that Ms Parkin and Mr Foley had spent the day drinking with friends in pubs around Torquay until Ms Parkin became upset and tearful while talking about her son, before leaving the pub alone. The landlord of the pub told the jury that Mr Foley’s mood changed and he became rude and aggressive before being told to leave the premises.

Ms Parkin and Mr Foley later met at the top of the multi-storey car park, where the cameras show them walking together in the direction of the exit bridge.

Mr Fitton said: “They are arguing, certainly pushing and shoving as they make their way to the road bridge at the far end of the car park.

“What happens then is the point of difference in this case.”

Ms Parkin died at the scene of the incident from head, chest and spinal injuries.

The court heard that Mr Foley was arrested a short time later and was found with blood and a scratch on his face.

The prosecution say DNA from the railings is consistent with the defendant’s blood. DNA from the victim’s fingers also matched Mr Foley. The trial continues.