A teenage girl was the victim of an attempted murder when her boyfriend threw her from a fourth-floor window of a tower block, Birmingham Crown Court has heard.
Graphic CCTV footage shown to jury
The court was told that Jordan Herring, 22, from Solihull, deliberately pushed his 18-year-old girlfriend from a window at Merton House in Chelmsley Wood. The incident occurred at around 11.22pm on November 12, 2022.
Jurors were shown distressing CCTV footage which captured the moment the teenager fell more than 37 feet (11.4 metres) onto a grass verge below. The footage also allegedly showed Herring later "strolling" down the stairs before he and his mother, Kerrie-Anne Grogan, carried the injured girl back upstairs wrapped in a red blanket.
A history of abuse and control
Prosecutor Jamie Scott stated the victim had "endured an abusive and violent relationship" with Herring throughout 2022. The abuse included him locking her in bedrooms, inspecting her phone, and physical assaults.
In the days leading up to the fall, Herring had allegedly violently beaten the teenager, leaving her with two black eyes and bruising to her throat. Mr Scott said Herring then tried to "shield her from view" by taking her to his grandmother's home.
When the girl's family grew concerned and contacted police, Herring took her to his mother's flat at Merton House on November 11, 2022. The couple arrived "under the cover of darkness," with the victim hiding her injuries under two hoods.
Premeditated attack and delayed emergency call
The prosecution alleged the attack was premeditated. Herring is said to have removed a curtain pole and unlocked a safety catch on the spare room window to fully open it before the attack.
Mr Scott told the court: "He held her near the window and said, 'I will throw you out, I will kill you'. That's precisely, we say, what he then did and what he was trying to do. He was trying to kill her."
After the fall, emergency services were not called for over an hour. Herring allegedly woke his mother to help retrieve the victim. Ms Grogan eventually made a "panicked" call to emergency services at 12.44am, claiming the girl was "dying."
The prosecutor stated that during this call, Ms Grogan's attitude changed when Herring left the flat, and she claimed she had tried to call earlier but Herring, who had a knife, would not let her.
"In other words, for an hour after he pushed (the girl) out of the window, he then did his best to ensure she died of those injuries," Mr Scott said.
Life-threatening injuries and trial
The teenager survived the fall but sustained catastrophic, life-threatening injuries. She was airlifted to hospital where she required a blood transfusion and assistance to breathe.
Her injuries included collapsed lungs, a ruptured spleen, a lacerated liver, and broken ribs, spine, and pelvis.
Jordan Herring denies a single charge of attempted murder. The jury was informed he has already been convicted of coercive and controlling behaviour against the same victim in a previous trial. The case continues.
