A WOMAN’S death was “consistent with smothering”, a court heard yesterday.

Simon Poole agreed with fellow pathologist Nathaniel Cary that there may have been evidence of “enforced airway obstruction”.

Robert Trigg, 52, from Worthing, is accused of murdering his partner Susan Nicholson in 2011 and the manslaughter of his girlfriend and mother-of-four, Caroline Devlin, 35, whose body was found on Mothers’ Day in 2006.

Trigg claimed he did not intend to suffocate Ms Nicholson, 52, but he accidentally rolled on to her while they were sleeping on a sofa at her flat in Rowlands Road, Worthing.

Inquests were held determining that both women had died of natural causes, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Dr Poole said the cause of Ms Nicholson’s death was “consistent with smothering or overlaying” and he agreed with Dr Cary in his assessment there may be evidence of “enforced airway obstruction”.

Dr Poole said: “I agree that his assessment may be correct, however I don’t necessarily favour this over the accidental scenario.

“I don’t particularly prefer the word enforced but it may be considered as a possibility.

“I found emphysema in the lungs with a loss of lung tissue and some of the air sacs in the lungs were lost to the walls around them which had become destroyed.

“But I would say that her history of smoking could have accounted for the lung pathology.”

Dr Poole told the court that the contributory factors he attributed to Ms Nicholson’s death included the toxic effects of alcohol, the narrowing of one of her coronary arteries and emphysema.

He added that when her heart was examined, there were multiple areas of scarring.

Jurors were told there were marks on Ms Nicholson’s mouth that “would support the idea that compression had caused this” as though the “upper lip had been trapped”.

Dr Poole said: “The marks on her mouth could have been the result of a reflex to try and help herself breath. I found no evidence of any impact.

“There could have been a sustained pressure on the chest for around 15 to 20 seconds.

“A pathological answer is very difficult to reach.

“It doesn’t necessarily show that it was either accidental or intentional.”

Both Dr Poole and Dr Cary suggested that despite Ms Nicholson being more than twice the drink-driving limit when she died, they didn’t believe she was rendered unconscious.

Dr Cary disputed Trigg’s claim of accidentally suffocating Miss Nicholson.

He said: “I have never come across any previous death of an adult that has involved such a mechanism as an accident.”

Jurors were previously told that both women had been subjected to violence while in a relationship with Trigg.

Defence barrister Sally Howes QC said the evidence presented could not prove Trigg’s guilt and that Ms Devlin had problems with high blood pressure, a known cause of brain aneurysms.

Trigg, of Park Crescent, Worthing, denies both charges. The trial continues.