The forensic doctor who performed the autopsy explained to the court in Palma on Thursday that Mr. Henderson was admitted to Son Espases Hospital in a coma. An operation was successful and within twelve hours he was taken out of intensive care. However, there was a rare complication - it occurs in, at most, four per cent of cases. There was bleeding in the brain tissue that has a mortality factor of between eighteen and 36 per cent. This arose because of intervention in the intracranial cavity.
The doctor added that it would not have made any difference had Mr. Henderson been operated on earlier. The court has heard that the first ambulance that arrived on the scene decided not to take him to hospital. He stressed that the injury to the lateral part of the head was life threatening because of increased pressure. There was another injury, one near the nape. This was compatible with a fall. The blow fractured the skull but did not cause serious brain injury.
Paul Lee Waugh, 38, has denied kicking Mr. Henderson in the head. He has acknowledged slapping him outside the bar where he worked on Punta Ballena, but "without the intention of hurting him". "There was no way that I kicked him in the head." Mr. Waugh maintains that there was an argument between Mr. Henderson and his girlfriend; he is said to have attacked her on two occasions. When Mr. Henderson left the bar, Mr. Waugh followed him with the intention of preventing him from hurting his partner.
The court has heard from a witness who stated that it was not Mr. Waugh who kicked Mr. Henderson; it was a "tall, burly man in shorts and a shirt and wearing boots".
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