Warning: This article contains graphic details which may disturb some people.
Dunedin teenager Amber-Rose Rush would have died minutes after her throat was cut, a court has heard.
The 16-year-old was found dead in her bed in February 2018. A 32-year-old doctor, Venod Skantha, is on trial accused of her murder.
Kate White, the forensic pathologist who conducted her autopsy, gave evidence on Thursday.
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She told the court the most significant of the teenager's multiple injuries was an 11 centimetre cut to the left side of her neck. Rush's ear was partially severed by this wound.
White said the cut was deep enough to slice her carotid artery and damage the bone at the base of her skull.
The artery was severed entirely.
"This carries a significant amount of blood to the brain," said White.
"The heart would have kept pumping... she would have bled out in a matter of minutes."
Her wounds would have been unsurvivable, said White.
Rush had a total of six stab wounds to her neck. Her windpipe was partially cut in the attack. There were further minor blunt force injuries to the teenager's eyelid and forehead.
Skantha is accused of murdering Rush after she threatened to go to the police and his employers about his conduct.
She accused Skantha of supplying minors with alcohol and drugs, offering her money to sleep with him, and touching her inappropriately.
These allegations would have lost the junior doctor his job as he was on a final warning from Southern District Health Board.
He has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, and four separate counts of threatening to kill.
The trial is ongoing.
Newshub.
