Pathologist says Grace Millane likely died from pressure to her neck for up to five minutes

It would take up to five minutes to manually strangle a person to death, the expert witness told jurors.

A pathologist has told the jury in the Grace Millane trial that the British backpacker likely died from pressure to the neck.

Dr Simon Stables told the court it was caused by sufficient pressure, for a sufficient period of time, with sufficient force.

The Crown alleges Ms Millane was strangled to death, possibly during a sexual encounter in early December last year.

A 27-year-old man is charged with her murder.

The woman told the High Court in Auckland of her date with the man accused of murdering the British backpacker.

Dr Stables stated that when it comes to manual strangulation - by way of hands around the neck - it would take four to five minutes of force around the neck to cause death effectively by starving the brain of oxygen.

The post mortem examination revealed Ms Millane had deep bruising to her neck below the jaw.

She also had a number of external bruises to her arms, shoulders and legs.

The jury heard detail about the final hours of the young visitor’s life.

Earlier, the High Court jury heard from a woman about her Tinder date with the accused.

She described it as one of the worst days of her life.

The witness was engaged in sexual activity with the man when she alleges he cut off her air supply.

The man’s lawyer put it to her that she wanted to portray the defendant in the worst possible light, which she denied.

Warning: details of the day’s testimony are of a sexual nature and confronting.

She also said the man told her far-fetched stories, including that he’d just secured a half million-dollar business deal.

The defence team argues her death was an accident after he applied pressure to her neck during rough sex with her consent and encouragement.

Ms Millane’s body was discovered in a suitcase buried in bush in the Waitakere Ranges on December 9.

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