TRACIE ANDREWS, the woman accused of the roadside murder of her fiancé, bit him on the neck and punched him twice in a nightclub two months before he died, Birmingham Crown Court was told yesterday.
Miss Andrews, 28, has claimed that Lee Harvey, 25, died as a result of a road-rage incident.
Steven Girling, who was at Bakers nightclub in Birmingham, said: “I just saw an argument. It got quite heated. I saw Tracie Andrews bite him on his neck on the left-hand side. She stormed off after that ... He did not retaliate.”
Victoria Silcock, a barmaid at the club, said that she had taken Mr Harvey into a kitchen to treat the wound to his neck. Asked by David Crigman, QC, for the prosecution, to describe the wound, she said: “It was a cut in the shape like when you bite into an apple.” She then described how Mr Harvey returned to Miss Andrews, who “looked angry with her fists clenched”. It was then that Miss Andrews punched him twice in the face.
Asked how he reacted, she said: “He didn't. He didn't retaliate.” She demonstrated a right hook and said: “It wasn't really hard but it was hard enough to make Lee flinch.” She added: “She was shouting at him. She was angry that he was in ‘her” club, as she said. She shouted, ‘What are you doing here? Who are you with? I'm going to get you out.’”. Miss Silcock said that Miss Andrews “ordered” Mr Harvey to buy her a Malibu and pineapple, which he did.
Earlier, PC Ian Henderson, of West Midlands Police, said that while on late patrol in Birmingham on October 19, he saw the couple in a scuffle. “The female was attempting to strike him and the male was attempting to placate her.”
PC David Hind, of West Mercia Constabulary, was called with a colleague the next week to Miss Andrews's flat, where she lived with Mr Harvey. “Miss Andrews opened the door to us. She was in quite a worked-up state and in a bit of a panic, really. She was quite aggressive towards Mr Harvey, almost provoking him at some stage.”
Shirley Peters, a neighbour, said she had heard long and frequent rows, including one on the day that Mr Harvey had died. She often turned up the television to drown out the sound.
Miss Andrews denies murder. The trial continues.