A VOLUNTEER police officer recoiled and nearly vomited when he saw mother-of-two Dawn Warburton hanging above her bed, Hull Crown Court heard.
Special constable Andrew Marshall was one of the first officers on the scene when Ms Warburton's body was found in her top-floor flat in Westbourne Avenue, west Hull, on April 13 last year.
Her cousin Mark Pickford, 41, who was found asleep under the duvet curled around her knees, denies her manslaughter and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Giving evidence on the fifth day of Mr Pickford's trial, Mr Marshall, who was on a public order patrol with a paramedic in Hull city centre, told the court he was sent to the flat at about 9pm after reports of a hanging and found PC Mark Hawley already there.
Mr Marshall told the court he was shocked by what he saw in the bedroom and compared it to a scene from the US crime series CSI (Crime Scene Investigation).
He said: "I could see her face quite clearly. It made me gag. It was like a scene from CSI.
"I did step out of the room because of the gagging reflex, because I'd never seen anything like that."Mr Marshall said he was there when PC Hawley began to move Mr Pickford away from the bed at the request of the paramedic, who cut the rope that was suspending Ms Warburton from a velux window in the roof.
He said he could hear Mr Pickford "mumbling" but could not make out his words and said it sounded as though he had just woken up.
PC Hawley had earlier told the court that Mr Pickford "leapt up" after he found him sleeping around Miss Warburton's body.
He said the duvet appeared to be stained with blood.
Mr Pickford was then arrested on suspicion of murder and handcuffed.
"He was struggling with me, squirming and trying to pull away," said PC Hawley.
"He was shouting but I couldn't understand what he was saying. He had long strands of hair that were stuck between his teeth that matched the female's hair."
He said Mr Pickford began asking when he would get his "expensive" clothes and car keys from the flat, which he described as a "crack den".
The officer said: "He also told me he was Manchester and he would bite my face off."
PC Hawley was recalled to answer a question by defence counsel Neil Flewitt QC.
Mr Flewitt said: "You said you noticed several hairs sticking out of the mouth of Mr Pickford, which you seemed to think looked similar to the hair of the deceased lady.
"Can I suggest that they weren't coming from his mouth, but they were attached to the stubble on his chin?"
The officer replied: "I definitely remember them being in his mouth."
The jury has been told that the cousins may have been playing a "sexual game" before Ms Warburton's death.
They were in a sexual relationship and exchanged text messages referring to violent sex.
The trial continues.
