As the murder trial arising from the death of a young Irishwoman entered its final stages at Inner London Crown Court, the prosecution asked why Christopher Newman (63) stabbed Georgina Eager (28) in the back of the neck if he was only acting in self-defence.
The issue was raised by prosecution lawyer Michael Birnbaum QC in his closing address to the jury of eight men and four women yesterday.
The defendant, also known as "Prof Saph Dean", claims he was attacked and provoked by Ms Eager at her flat in Walkinstown, Dublin, before he stabbed her to death on May 22nd, 2003.
Mr Newman, a British citizen of Indian origin, then left for London where he was arrested and charged with murder. UK legislation permits the trial of British citizens in Britain for crimes allegedly committed in other jurisdictions.
Mr Newman, a practitioner of alternative medicine, claims Ms Eager, from Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, threw a hammer at him and then attacked him with a knife.
Mr Birnbaum told the jury that people were entitled to defend themselves under such circumstances, but were "only entitled to use reasonable force" and were not entitled to retaliate or exact revenge on the attacker.
"The explosion of violence was totally unreasonable," he continued. Mr Newman "could easily have disarmed her" as he was much bigger than Ms Eager, who was only 163cm (5ft 4in) tall and weighed 54kg (8½st). Mr Newman had left the knife in a "very special" place, between the top of Ms Eager's spinal column and the base of her skull. "Whatever it is, it's not him defending himself [by] responding reasonably to provocation from her."
Closing for the defence, Andrew Smiler cautioned that the verdict should not be based on Mr Newman's personality.
"Of course he is bizarre: if being bizarre was a crime I would certainly convict him."
The shock of what took place had caused Mr Newman's inability to remember the details. Mr Smiler suggested the prosecution was "lacking in humanity and understanding" because of its failure to take this into account.
"Mr Newman was a man who had lost his mind because he had just killed somebody he loved, killed her on the spur of the moment," he said. The trial continues today.