Samurai attack victim 'was cowering on floor'
A British political aide killed in an attack with a Samurai sword was probably cowering on the floor, a court has heard.
Robert Ashman, 50, of Cheltenham, is said to have plunged the three-foot sword again and again into British Liberal Democrat assistant Andrew Pennington's back.
He started his attack after grappling with Cheltenham Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones, who escaped with severe cuts to his hands, Britain's Bristol Crown Court has heard.
Ashman, 50, was initially charged with murdering Mr Pennington, 39, and attempting to murder Mr Jones during a surgery in the Liberal Democrat offices in the town.
But he will not be tried on those charges after a jury last week found him mentally unfit to stand trial. Instead a three-day hearing is determining whether he carried out the attack.
British Home Office pathologist Derek James told the court Mr Pennington, a Gloucestershire county councillor, was stabbed nine times from behind, with at least six of the wounds going all the way through his body.
One thrust of the sword pierced the right side of his chest and sliced through a lung, his windpipe and an artery before emerging on the left side of his neck.
Mr James told the jury the wounds in Mr Pennington's back were consistent with Ashman wrenching the sword in and out of his body as he either crouched or knelt down.
He added: "Mr Pennington was either bent over or on the floor, perhaps crouching or kneeling, although I cannot say with any certainty. The pattern suggests his back was facing the assailant and was probably below him."
