A 33-year-old woman who was pregnant with twins was found dead on a bathroom floor after allegedly being stabbed more than 60 times in her face and body by her partner, a court has heard.
Amber O’Brien was discovered naked and covered with a blue tarpaulin in “pools of water” at her partner’s flat in Blackley, north Manchester, on April 19. She was described as being “cold to the touch” when found.
Stephan Garner, 31, has admitted killing Ms O’Brien at Manchester Crown Court but denies murdering her.
The trial heard that Garner killed Ms O’Brien following an argument between the couple.
Her body was left inside the eighth-floor flat where she had been living with Garner, the father of her unborn twins, who were nine weeks old in the pregnancy.
Nigel Power KC, opening the prosecution case, told the court: “How Amber died, only the defendant who is alive can say.”
“She had been stabbed repeatedly in the neck and face. The pathologist recorded more than 60 separate stab, incised and puncture wounds — 32 of them to her face and neck.”
Prosecutors allege Garner killed Ms O’Brien during the early hours of April 18.
The body of Amber O’Brien, 33, (pictured) was discovered in a block of flats in Blackley, Greater Manchester, shortly before 6pm on April 19 following reports of a disturbance
Mr Power said Garner then spent the following day and a half stripping Ms O’Brien, washing her body, bleaching the flat, placing her bloodstained clothing in bags and destroying both her phone and his own before police intervened.
He allegedly told a relative that he had been “cleaning up” the bathroom after buying bleach and scouring sponges from Poundland.
Police forced their way into the flat shortly after 6pm the next day. The court heard this followed an alleged statement by Garner to his cousin that he had “stabbed her in the neck twice”.
Garner reportedly claimed: “She had been threatening me.”
Jurors were told that Garner, of Somerton Court in Blackley, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder.
The couple had been in a relationship for around three months before Ms O’Brien died.
Ms O’Brien had told her brother that she and Garner “argued a lot over silly things” and that she was unhappy about his “mood swings”, the jury heard.
Two weeks before her death, she reportedly told her sibling of Garner: “Something ain’t fitting with me.”
Pictured: Police at the scene of a cordon at Somerton Court tower block on Broadmoss Drive in Blackley on Sunday, April 19
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The court also heard there had been a “running dispute” over Ms O’Brien’s flat in Middleton.
Jurors were told Garner wanted her to give up the property and move in with him, but that she felt “pressured”.
But she moved into the flat in Blackley three weeks prior to her death, jurors were told.
Mr Power said the ‘friction was not all one way in the relationship’, and that Ms O’Brien could be heard threatening Garner on an audio recording.
Prosecutors argue that ‘doesn’t come anywhere close’ to justify Garner’s actions. The court heard that in the early hours of April 18, Ms O’Brien called her brother and said: ‘I can’t stand him, I’m not staying here.’
She left the flat but later returned with Garner, it was said. Garner was arrested at about 7pm on April 19. When officers attended the flat they noticed an ‘overpowering smell of bleach’, the jury was told.
He was interviewed twice by police and made no comment on both occasions, prosecutors said.
At trial, Garner is expected to say that he did not intend to cause Ms O’Brien serious bodily harm and that he was experiencing a loss of control at the time.
He is expected to allege that he tried to leave the flat in the early hours of April 18, but that Ms O’Brien punched him and was holding a knife, and told him the ‘babies had been aborted’.
The trial, which is expected to last seven days, continues.
Ms O’Brien’s family paid tribute to her as a ‘beautiful soul’ when she died, adding that she was a ‘devoted daughter and sister’.
In a statement issued through Greater Manchester Police on Saturday, Ms O’Brien’s family said: ‘We are deeply saddened by the loss of Amber.
‘Her passing has left us devastated, and she will be fondly remembered by all who had the privilege of knowing her.
‘Amber was known for her warm smile and her natural ability to lift others up.
‘She had a truly kind heart and made everyone around her feel valued and appreciated.
‘She was a devoted daughter and sister and a beautiful soul whose bright spirit brought joy, laughter, and comfort wherever she went.
‘Our hearts are broken. Amber’s memory will live on with us forever.’
