A MUM-of-four was ‘murdered by her long-term partner before her body was wrapped in a child’s duvet and thrown in a lake’, a court has heard.

Prosecutors allege that Dominic Isom killed Samantha Henderson at the couple’s home in Corfe Castle on January 21 this year.

Day two of the trial at Winchester Crown Court

Read all our coverage from day one of the trial at Winchester Crown Court 

The 25-year-old, who was five feet two inches tall and weighed just under seven stone, had sustained a “significant laceration” of nine-and-a-half centimetres to her forehead.

She also had a bruise on her neck that would have been caused by “forceful bruising” or “severely forceful compression”.

A police investigation revealed drops of blood in the shed outside their home.

Ms Henderson’s body was discovered by police divers nine days later in the lake near Ham Common, Hamworthy.

The body had been tightly wrapped in plastic sheeting and a duvet, which was weighed down with stone slabs and other metal items.

Wrapped up too was a pair of tartan slippers and clothing alleged to have belonged to Isom, as well as Ms Henderson’s mobile phone, with its battery of which had been removed.

Isom, 27, of Halves Cottages, denies murdering his partner of four-and-a-half years.

However, prosecutor Ian Lawrie QC told the panel of six men and six women who will try Isom: “As it is anticipated that Mr Isom will accept responsibility for the death of Ms Henderson, but not her murder, it must follow that he is the person who delivered those multiple blows to her head and neck.”

Prosecutors allege that Isom drove the body of his partner to the lake on the evening of January 21, stopping on the way to buy marijuana from a friend who later said he had been his “usual, happy self.”

Later that day, he sent a Whatsapp message to Ms Henderson’s phone reading: “Sam, where are you? Please come back. You’re better than running away. We all love you.”

It is claimed that he would return to Lake View car park the following morning at 7.05am, leaving around 40 minutes later.

However, there is no CCTV in the car park, and the reason for Isom’s alleged return is not known.

He was also to allegedly leave two voicemails on Ms Henderson’s phone, which prosecutors say was part of an effort to “cover his tracks”.

Additionally, Isom allegedly posted a message on the couple’s shared Facebook page which read: “Has anyone heard, seen or spoken to Sam Henderson after 4.30pm yesterday, please let me know ASAP, thank you.”

On this day, January 22, Isom reported Ms Henderson missing to the police and her mother, Janelle Henderson, who immediately left work and went to the couple’s home.

Speaking to jurors, Mrs Henderson said she had noticed that the couple’s blue Peugeot - which her daughter “always” parked bonnet first in the drive - had been reversed in, “centimetres” away from the fence.

“In a split second, I thought, ‘He shoved her in the back of that car and something has happened',” Mrs Henderson said.

But as soon as Isom opened the door to her, the thought “just disappeared,” she added.

The trial at Winchester Crown Court continues.

Mother: Samantha had "volatile relationship" with Dominic Isom 

MS Henderson’s mother Janelle spoke of her daughter’s “volatile relationship” with the defendant.

The two met while both were in relationships, briefly leaving their partners to be with each other.

Although this did not last, in 2010 they finally began to go out with each other, even “making a pact that no one would keep them apart,” Mrs Henderson said.

Ms Henderson had been living in a hostel in Southampton at that time, and Isom once rode a bicycle and hitch-hiked from Hamworthy to see her there.

However, their former relationships “cast a long shadow” over them both, prosecutor Ian Lawrie QC said.

In 2013, Isom was convicted for assaulting Ms Henderson, jurors were told.

But the intense relationship continued and the two had planned to marry in December last year before postponing the date.

It was alleged by Nigel Lickley QC, defending Isom, that Ms Henderson had “scratched” the defendant on two occasions, even allegedly stabbing him in the foot with a screwdriver - something Mrs Henderson denied.

“Other than the incident when he found himself in court and convicted, [Isom] was never violent to your daughter,” Mr Lickley said.

Mrs Henderson replied: “He pushed and shoved her around, he had hit her, and it was the mental abuse my daughter had undergone as well.”

She said Ms Henderson’s confidence “just disappeared” and she lost a great deal of weight.

Mr Lawrie told jurors: “At the heart of what happened between Ms Henderson and Mr Isom on January 21 may be the fractious dynamics of their not always easy relationship.”