A NEWPORT father could have lived up to 18 hours after an alleged attack which was said to have caused fatal bleeding in his skull, a jury heard yesterday.

Forensic pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbetter said injuries which led to Tony Singh’s death could have been made hours before he actually died and that Mr Singh could have moved and talked during this time.

Mr Singh, 24, was found dead at his flat in Bryngwyn Road on November 15, 2010.

Karl Drummond, 37, of Attlee Court, George Glover, 40, of Graham Court and Shahid Rafiq, 37, of Bryn- Yr-Ysgol, all of Caerphilly, are standing trial jointly charged with murdering and conspiring to rob Mr Singh, on November 11, 2010. All three deny the charges.

Giving evidence, Dr Leadbetter said that, following a post mortem examination, he concluded Mr Singh had died from a blunt head injury including skull fractures and left extradural haematoma, which is bleeding between the inner side of the skull and the outer covering of the brain.

He said with an injury such as the bleeding, some people don’t lose consciousness immediately.

From further examination of Mr Singh, he said it was possible he could have lived up to 18 hours after the cause of the fatal injury.

He added that Mr Singh’s head injuries suggested a result of impact.

He said: “The nature of the skull fracture suggests there was more than one impact.”

Although Dr Leadbitter couldn’t say how much force was needed to cause the injuries, he said an adult walking into a wall could cause a simple linear fracture in the skull.

He said Mr Singh’s fractures were more complex. The jury also heard that police constable John Buckthought discovered Mr Singh in his flat bedroom at 10.05pm, following a call made to police by a friend of Mr Singh, Shanice Williams.

In a written statement, PC Buckthought said Mr Singh was laid face down on the floor wearing only his underwear, with blood on his face and congealed in his left ear.

Proceeding.