Mary Prior KC and Sarah Knight prosecuted Kain Tailby for the vicious murder of his partner, 21 years old Chrissy Everett-Hickson.
After Chrissy confronted him about his infidelity, Tailby violently rugby-tackled her to the ground, grabbed her by the throat, and forcefully slammed her head against the floor 5-6 times in quick succession. A neighbour heard the commotion. Tailby called the police and ambulance but downplayed the incident, describing it as “pushy-shovey” and initially claiming he didn’t know if Chrissy had hit her head.
During his police interview, Tailby admitted to taking her to the ground by grabbing her arms and landing on top of her, eventually banging her head 5-6 times. The defence argued that the injuries occurred during the initial fall, which was now described as a “push,” and that the subsequent assault did not contribute to Chrissy’s death.
This complex case turned on a careful factual analysis of the evidence, including blood splatter and pathology. The defendant was unanimously convicted of murder.
The case was prepared with great skill by Emma Hodgson of CPS East Midlands and officers from Derbyshire Police led by D.I. Kane Martin. D.I. Martin was kind enough to publicly thank Mary and Sarah for the work that they had undertaken.
We are extremely grateful to the CPS and the Police for their work in this case and to Samuel Skinner KC for his excellent work in the early stages of this case.
