THE injuries emergency services were faced with after a man was allegedly hacked and beaten to death have been detailed in court.

As the trial into the killing of Christopher Lemonius continued at Oxford Crown Court today police sergeant Robert Fisher, one of the first on the scene, took to the witness box.

Prosecutor Stuart Trimmer QC took him through a statement he gave detailing his account of the night of the killing on June 1 last year in an alleyway at Jourdain Road, Oxford.

The court heard that PC Fisher arrived at about 11.20pm before attending to a conscious but severely injured Mr Lemonius.

Mr Trimmer said: “On his right shoulder there were two to three large slashes. One slash was about six inches deep and appeared to go through the subcutaneous level. You could see at least three fingers were either missing or hanging off.

“You took control of the first aid operation, you called in and requested ambulance attendance. Mr Lemonius was saying that it was still hard for him to breath.”

The court heard that not long after that Mr Lemonius appeared to suffer a seizure before later losing consciousness altogether. Sgt Fisher along with colleagues continued their efforts to keep him alive before ambulance crews arrived.

In cross-examination, defence teams asked if it was dark in the area, to which the officer replied it was and said that he used a torch to see the injuries on Mr Lemonius. The trial continues.