A WREXHAM man accused of killing his partner made no attempt to revive her or call for help when she collapsed, a court heard.

Madog Llewellyn Rowlands, of Coed Efa in New Broughton, is on trial for the murder of 21-year-old Lauren Griffiths, who was from the Oswestry area.

Her body was found at a flat in Glynrhondda Street in Cathays, Cardiff, in 2019.

Last week jurors in Newport heard how Ms Griffiths had been diagnosed as having complex trauma leading to dissociative episodes.

On Monday 23-year-old Rowlands gave evidence, including his recollections of the events leading up to and immediately following an incident he had with his partner on April 29.

He told the court that on that morning, shortly after 7am, Ms Griffiths had a dissociative episode in which she began hitting herself in the head, which he attempted to prevent by holding onto her arms.

According to Rowlands, she then put her hands on his neck and held him against a wall.

He said: "I couldn't breathe. I put my hands forward to her neck.

"We were both in that situation and the next thing I remember was my vision blurring.

"I could feel that I was passing out. Her hands released and so did mine. "We fell away from each other. At that point my vision came back and I saw her there."

Rowlands said he "couldn't put a time estimate" on how long the contact had lasted and when asked why he hadn't pushed her away or resisted in some other way he told the court: "At the time I couldn't think. "When Lauren was dissociating she was very strong, which shocked me. "You wouldn't think an altered state of mind could change how strong you are, but she was."

Rowlands said his partner was lying on the bed, not breathing, at which point he "immediately" felt he should take his life, which he said he attempted but was "unable while sober."

Michael Jones QC, prosecuting, asked: "If this was a terrible accident where, defending yourself, you put your hands on her throat and she fell unconscious on the bed - why didn't you attempt to resuscitate her?

"Why didn't you phone an ambulance straight away? Why didn't you attempt mouth to mouth, chest compressions?"

Rowlands said he was "distraught" and that he "should have" taken such measures.

Asked by Mr Jones whether he had made any attempts to help Ms Griffiths, he said: "No. I thought it was too late."

He said he saw she was not breathing and "felt like the time for help had passed."

The jury saw CCTV footage once again, in which Rowlands was seen leaving the Glynrhondda Street flat and walking to a shop shortly before 8.40am.

He told the court he'd decided to leave to buy whiskey - as well as bin bags in order to cover his partner's body.

The jury previously heard how Ms Griffiths's body was discovered partially wrapped in cling film when emergency services attended the scene on the evening of April 30.

Mr Jones asked why he'd decided to cover or wrap her body. He said he'd had an "urge" - that it was something that "needed to happen, in a respectful way" and that he'd "needed to protect her."

The Jury also heard further examination of statements relating to an incident in March 2018, in which police were called to the Glynrhondda Street flat.

In body cam footage, Rowlands tells officers Ms Griffiths had broken his laptop and he'd "snapped" and "tried to strangle her."

The court heard he'd pushed his partner onto the bed before asking "do you want to die?"

Asked to explain to the court what had happened, Rowlands said they had previously discussed options for taking their lives as they had money issues and were using drugs.

He claimed the question he put to his partner when he pushed her in the 2018 incident had been an "enquiry" arising from their past discussions about suicide and that he hadn't said it as a threat, or wanted her to die.

Questioned by Caroline Rees QC, defending, he told the court that regarding the incident relating to his partner's death in 2019 he hadn't intended to cause any kind of injury or harm to her.

He was also asked about internet searches he carried out following Ms Griffiths's death including "Six tips for getting the best result at court, mitigation checklist, living a life sentence and how to show remorse."

"I'd never been in a court situation before," he said.

"I had not heard of these legal terms. I started Googling to do my research."

Asked why he'd searched how to show remorse, he said he was "unaware of the definition."

He said it was "unfamiliar" to him, but when he read the meaning, he realised he'd "already felt it."

The trial continues.