A TOP Home Office pathologist has cast serious doubt on a previous suggestion Shani Warren killed herself.

The 26-year-old was found dead in Taplow Lake on April 18, 1987, and Donald Robertson, of Slough, is accused of her murder.

Robertson, 66, denies the accusation and two related charges of false imprisonment and indecent assault.

On the second day of Roberton's trial, (May 3) pathologist Dr Fegan Earl suggested Shani Warren was alive when she entered the water at Taplow Lake despite a ligature mark having been found around her neck.

RECAP: Everything said on day two of the lady in the lake murder trial

He said: “There is a possibility the deceased was rendered unconscious, bound and then deposited into the lake.

“In such an unconscious state, clearly, drowning would supervene.”

Following examination of Ms Warren’s body in April and May 1987, pathologist Benjamin Davis implied the 26-year-old died by suicide.

He claimed in a report that the ligatures around Ms Warren’s wrists and ankles ‘appeared to be somewhat loosely applied, possibly applied by the deceased herself.’

Reading Crown Court heard how at an inquest into Ms Warren’s death in October 1987, Dr Davis said there was only a ‘remote’ possibility someone else was involved in her passing away.

The pathologist suggested that Ms Warren fell into the water and drowned after an attempt at strangulation was made.

But in 2020, Dr Fegan Earl was asked to reexamine the death of Ms Warren after DNA from semen matching Donald Robertson’s profile was found on the gag around the 26-year-old’s mouth.

In his own report, the pathologist said: “All told, having regard for the evidence provided to me, the features here are supportive of a death due to third party involvement.”

Asked by prosecutor John Price QC if he agreed with Dr Davis’s implication that Ms Warren died by suicide, Dr Fegan Earl simply said: “No.”

The court also heard how Dr Davis completed a swab of Ms Warren’s genitalia during the autopsy but omitted to swab her mouth.

When pressed on whether he would have swabbed her mouth by Mr Price, Dr Fegan Earl said: “Without a doubt, I would.”

Earlier on day two of the trial, Reading Crown Court heard evidence from the people who first discovered Shani Warren in Taplow Lake.

Julie Cooper, the first police constable to attend the scene after the body was reported, gave live evidence from the witness box.

She said: “I would describe the lady as 5'5, she had light brown shoulder-length hair, I recall she was wearing blue jeans, a red shirt and a black jacket.

“One of the biggest memories I have today was her fingernails, they were beautifully manicured and red in the colour.

“She was bound up with a new-ish, clean, tow rope. That was around her ankles and legs and it was yellow.

“There was a red jump lead securing her hands behind her body.

“She had a blue scarf that was around her face.

“There was a stiletto heel on the bank near to the body and the other was 4-5 feet away in the water.”

Donald Robertson is also facing charges of rape and kidnap relating to an incident involving a 16-year-old woman in July 1981.

He denies these accusations.

The trial continues at Reading Crown Court.