A PUB landlady told a court she had witnessed a murder suspect violently attacking his lover before her death.

Leslie Purvis, 40, is accused of launching a "prolonged, violent assault" on Kelly Risborough at the home the couple shared in Palgrove Road, Sunderland, last April.

Rebecca Green, licencee of the Round Robin, in Hylton Road, Sunderland, told Newcastle Crown Court about a violent confrontation she had witnessed at her bar the previous summer.

Ms Green told the court: "They were sitting chatting and then they both left the pub and went outside.

"Seconds later, I walked around the corner and Les had hold of Kelly by the scruff of the neck. He banged her face off the wall.

"She started lashing out, hitting back. I turned and went back around the corner and back into the pub.

"They came back inside several minutes later as if nothing had happened. Her face was swollen and red."

Kelly's brother, Gary Risborough, told the court yesterday he had seen his 23-year-old sister with broken noses, black eyes, and bruises on her arm and face in the past.

He told the court: "She was happy when she wasn't with him. I tried to persuade her to leave him."

On the day of the killing, Miss Risborough had been to a friend's house all day, before returning home at midnight.

Mr Purvis had been drinking in the Pallion Inn with friends before heading home at about the same time.

Toby Hedorth, prosecuting, said Mr Purvis launched a violent attack after the pair met up at home.

Miss Risborough died as a result of massive bleeding due to an extensive laceration to the liver, caused by a blunt force, the trial was told.

Mr Purvis denies murder and the trial continues.