Michael Thompson: First paramedic to arrive at alleged murder scene saw no signs CPR had been carried out
The court heard that the first paramedic to arrive at the alleged murder scene saw no signs that CPR had been carried out by the defendant on Kimberley Thompson.
55-year-old Michael Thompson, of Pinewood Road, pleaded not guilty to the rape and murder of 43-year-old Kimberley Thompson – who was found dead at a home in Pinewood Road on August 9, 2025.
Thompson appeared at Northampton Crown Court on December 16, 2025 when he also pleaded not guilty to two additional charges of committing an act with intent to pervert the course of public justice.
The trial, which is being held at Nottingham Crown Court, is expected to last around six weeks and the jury members were sworn in on Thursday, May 21 ahead of the prosecution opening on Tuesday, May 26.
Paramedic Owen Brown, based at Northampton North’s East Midlands Ambulance Service, gave his evidence to the jury on Wednesday, June 3. His evidence was based on his recollection, as body-worn footage is only activated during violence and aggression.
On the morning of August 9 last year, Owen was on duty on his own in a response car and was called to a category one report that requires a fast response at 5.41am. He arrived eight minutes later and was the first paramedic to arrive, the court heard.
He recalled that the front door was already open and he followed a male voice upstairs to a bedroom, where he saw a mattress on the floor and a male kneeling in a hunched position.
Owen told the court that the male appeared to be “calm but upset at the same time” and that he was not performing CPR on the person in the bed. The paramedic saw an unresponsive female laying on her back with a duvet covering her body and her head on a pillow.
After carrying out the necessary assessments and checks, and having described the patient as “cold to touch”, Owen concluded that Kim was beyond any attempt to resuscitate and formally declared her as deceased at 5.52am.
When asked by Miss Moore KC whether he saw signs that CPR had been carried out, Owen told the court: “I did not.”
Having seen two empty packs of co-codamol, a glass bottle in the shape of a skull and a gin bottle, Owen believed there was the possibility that the patient had taken an overdose with subsequent passing potentially through misadventure.
The court heard that the amount of tablets that Owen saw was not a concern but when the man at the scene told him that the skull bottle was full that evening, the level of alcohol with tablets was a concern.
Owen spoke to the gentleman in the room, Thompson, about the photographs of a lady and he confirmed it was the patient’s sister. Owen told the court he asked where the sister was and Thompson replied ‘where do you think?’. “I did not question that further,” said Owen.
Thompson told and showed the paramedic some of the messages exchanged between him and Kim. From Owen’s recollection the last message was at 2.30am that morning and he saw it on the right hand side of the phone he was shown.
The phone came out of Thompson’s pocket and Owen recalled seeing a back and forth exchange before what the defendant described as a “graphic” last message. The back and forth appeared to be some type of argument to the witness, including a picture of what appeared to be a hotel booking.
Owen said that Thompson was unable to tell him when he last saw the patient before he discovered her, but that he woke up at 5.30am, came downstairs to use the bathroom, checked on Kim and that is when he found her unresponsive.
‘I didn’t want to assume’
When Owen was cross-examined by Mr Hankin KC, he confirmed that in his witness statement from September 23, 2025, he described Thompson as kneeling by the side of the mattress, upset and tearful.
Owen also confirmed that he has given his best recollection and that his primary function when he attends a scene such as this is to establish if a patient can be saved. In his witness statement, Owen said he did not take much more notice of what was on the phone as it was not his priority.
The paramedic used the words “I remember it appeared to be some sort of back and forth argument potentially”, and Mr Hankin KC questioned him on the specific use of the word “potentially”. Owen confirmed that he did not want to assume and be led into a position that causes conjecture.
The trial continues.
Take a look at the Chronicle & Echo’s ongoing coverage of this trial here…