AN alleged York murder victim had 29 external injuries including 17 to his head and face, a jury has heard.

Francis McNally, 35, had a pair of pyjama bottoms wound round his neck and internal injuries to his throat, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Pathologist Louise Mulcahy said many of the injuries could have been caused by a “blunt impact", such as from a fist, a foot or a weapon.

When she carried out a post mortem on Mr McNally she found no evidence of a natural cause of death.

Curtis Turpin, 35, of Markham Crescent, off Haxby Road, York, and Adam Craig Hudson, 41, of Rowntree Avenue, Clifton, both deny murder. Hudson has admitted the manslaughter of Mr McNally. Turpin denies causing actual bodily harm to a woman in a separate incident.

The jury heard that police found Mr McNally’s dead body in Turpin’s flat on October 27, 2021.

They found blood marks on the ground that forensic scientists matched with trainers worn by each of the two accused.

A blood mark on a pipe from a vacuum cleaner was matched with part of Hudson’s palm.

Dr Mulcahy said the pipe could have caused one of the injuries.

Another injury could have been caused by black plastic pieces found with the body, she said.

As well as the external injuries, Mr McNally had a broken nose and broken eye socket and bruising inside his head, the doctor said. His skull was not broken.

Dr Mulcahy said Mr McNally had internal injuries that could have been caused by strangulation and that his heart was beating when pressure was applied to his neck.

She couldn’t give the order in which the injuries had been caused and she found no injuries that indicated that Mr McNally had tried to defend himself. The injuries to the body and arms were less significant to those to the head and face and marks on both arms indicated he may have been held, she said.

The jury has heard that medical tests revealed Mr McNally had drunk about five times the drink drive limit of alcohol.

The doctor told the jury that she concluded that Mr McNally had suffered from head injuries that could have caused him to black out and to be concussed.

In that state, he would have been more vulnerable than if he was awake to being strangled.

The jury heard that Turpin has previous convictions in July 2009 for wounding and in April 2014 for robbery. During both of them he grabbed or squeezed the victim’s neck.

The trial continues.