An alleged murderer tried to help the woman he is accused of drowning, said defence barrister James Bourne-Arton KC.

And he urged the jury in the river murder trial not to convict the defendant on the grounds he may be a domestic abuser.

They should only convict Vincent Morgan if they are sure Lisa Welford, 49, didn’t fall accidentally into the River Derwent in Malton or deliberately go into the water to try and kill herself and they are sure Morgan did put her in the river, he told the jury at Leeds Crown Court.

“I am not asking you to be sympathetic towards Mr Morgan but to be fair and to be true to your oath,” he said. “Don’t look to your feelings about what Mr Morgan may or may not have done previously.”

He said they had heard evidence that Morgan tried to get police alerted as soon as Lisa went into the water and got into the water himself to try and help her.

Mr Bourne-Arton was making the defence closing speech on behalf of Morgan, 47, of Chandler’s Wharf, Castlegate, Malton, who denies murdering Lisa by drowning her on April 24 and of causing her actual bodily harm on two earlier dates.

Earlier Craig Hassell KC for the prosecution had told the jury they had heard that Morgan had apparently been holding Lisa in the river in such a way that her head was a foot below the water and apparently not been helping to get her out of the water.

The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdicts today (Wednesday, November 27).

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Mr Bourne-Arton told the jury they had heard more evidence about Morgan’s conduct towards a previous partner and behaviour towards Lisa before April 24 than they had about the alleged murder and alleged actual bodily harms.

He claimed the “long-standing” heroin addiction of a previous partner affected her credibility when she had told them about violence by Morgan towards her over many years.

The jury had heard Morgan had served a prison sentence some years ago after he pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to her in a single incident.

Mr Bourne-Arton also attacked the credibility of other witnesses who made allegations about Morgan’s violence towards women.

He said the prosecution had “no evidence” about what had happened on the river bank when Lisa went into the river and that as soon as she had done so, Morgan had urged the police to be called and had gone into the water to rescue her.

Mr Hassell said Morgan had been present with Lisa when she went into the river, but had refused to go into the witness box and say what had happened.

He had lied to police on the river bank about why he had been there. The prosecution evidence, he alleged, meant that the jury could be sure that Morgan had deliberately put her in the water with intent to cause her at least really serious harm.

The jury had seen a “graphic illustration of what domestic abuse can do to a victim” when the previous partner gave evidence, he alleged.