A BARRISTER has described Ben Blakeley as a liar who lost his temper and strangled his ex girlfriend.
That was how prosecutor Richard Latham QC described the 23-year-old this morning during his closing speech to a jury in Oxford Crown Court.
The barrister said the most important issue in the case was whether Blakeley intended to kill Jayden Parkinson or cause her really serious injury on December 3 last year.
He singled out the bruises to the 17-year-old's face, head and arms as proof that she had suffered a "beating" before she died.
Mr Latham told the jury: "You can't trust a word this man says.
"He's still lying to this day about how she came by those injuries you have seen in the post mortem."
The barrister also highlighted the evidence of three of Blakeley's ex-girlfriends about his violent temper.
He said: "What is clear from their evidence is that this is a man who loses his temper over the slightest thing.
"It can get out of hand and once he has lost his temper he resorts to violence.
"And that is precisely what we say happened."
Blakeley, formerly of Christchurch Road, Reading, denies murder but admits manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.
A 17-year-old admits perverting the course of justice but denies preventing a lawful burial.
The trial continues.
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