THE Whitehaven man who is accused of murdering his partner told a jury that  he loved her and “regretted” some of the “terrible things” he had done to her.

Paul Irwin, 50, made the comments as he gave evidence on day five of his trial at Carlisle Crown Court. He denies murdering 34-year-old Tiffany Render on March 22 and sexually assaulting her. 

The prosecution case is that he killed Miss Render while she was “trapped” in a controlling and violent relationship with him.

She suffered massive internal bleeding at Irwin’s George Street flat in Whitehaven during what the defendant claims was consensual sexual activity which went wrong.

Under questioning from his barrister, Peter Glenser KC, the defendant confirmed that he and Tiffany Render knew each other for around 18 months, having met in the Anchor Vaults pub in Whitehaven.

He liked her smile, and they had “a good laugh” when they were together, he said. “How often did you see her?” asked Mr Glenser. “Nearly every day,” said Irwin. “We'd sit and drink in my flat.” Miss Render “drank a lot,” he said.

After six to eight weeks, she moved out of the B&B where she was then living and into his flat and it was good, he said. “We got on; we went for meals."

Mr Glenser asked: “Did you love her?” Irwin replied: “Yes, I did.”

The barrister then said: “You did some terrible things to her during the course of your relationship.” Irwin responded with: “Yes, I did, which I regret.”

In earlier evidence, the defendant said his paranoid schizophrenia was controlled by a monthly injection and, because he was medicated at the time of Miss Render's death, his illness had nothing to do with it.

Mr Glenser quizzed Irwin about his assault on Miss Render in July last year, when he struck her multiple times with a rolling pin.

For that offence, he was given a suspended jail term. Before the assault, said Irwin, he had been missing his medication.  “I was drinking all the time with Tiffany,” he said.

“You didn’t take it [your medication] because you were getting drunk with her all the time?” asked Mr Glenser. “Yes,” replied Irwin. He spent four months on remand for assaulting Miss Render.

While he was in prison, and taking his medication properly, he wrote to Tiffany Render.

He told her she was “the best thing” that had happened to him and that he was “really sorry" for the assault, adding: “By the sounds of it, I could have really killed you. Trust me; I will make things better again.” 

He blamed what happened on "having an episode."

The jury then heard about sexual activity between the defendant and Miss Render in November last year after his release from jail.

It involved activity of the sort which Irwin says accidentally led to Miss Render bleeding heavily on the day she died. Mr Glenser asked Irwin about some of the messages he sent to Miss Render.

On November 4, in one of her messages, Miss Render told Irwin: “I can’t believe that you hit me again.” Irwin said that referred to a row about cocaine and drink but it was over quickly.

Asked how things were between him and Miss Render in March, Irwin said: “A rocky road." Mr Glenser referred Irwin to a “painful” text conversation he had with Miss Render, when she told him: “If you loved me you would not hurt me.”

“Why is she saying you hit her again and again?” asked the barrister.

Irwin replied: “No, not on that occasion." The argument was resolved, said the defendant, when he called the police and asked them to remove Miss Render from his flat.

The barrister moved on to messages exchanged between Irwin and Miss Render in the days before she died. On March 19, he wrote: “It’s not all about sex.”

Her reply was: “It is with you.”

She went on to tell him: “Just stop hitting me, please.” On March 22, he said he met Tiffany in the afternoon at his flat and they consumed cocaine.

“We were having a good laugh, good conversation,” said Irwin. He told the jury it was Miss Render who suggested they have sex. He described it as “good fun”. Irwin said he was not troubled when he realised Miss Render was bleeding.

Asked why he was unconcerned, he said ”Because it had happened before.” They decided to go back to bed. He said Miss Render drank a bottle of vodka and three mouthfuls out of a second bottle.

When Miss Render was sick, she blamed “bad cocaine,” he said.

“Did she say anything to you when you went to bed?” asked Mr Glenser. Irwin said: “No. Just ‘Make another line” – a reference to cocaine.

Mr Glenser asked: “When you got into bed, did she say anything to you about bleeding or pain?” Irwin replied: “No, she didn’t.” After later waking to find Miss Render dead in the bed beside him, he first called his sister.

"Why didn't you call an ambulance straight away," asked the barrister. Irwin said: "I did after my sister; she's my go-to person... I panicked to be honest. I was in shock."

The trial continues.