Lee Crewe died from a single stab wound to the chest in Newport earlier this year, according to a forensic pathologist.

Mr Crewe, 36, was found unresponsive with serious injuries on Chepstow Road in Maindee on the evening of Tuesday, May 14.

Despite receiving treatment from paramedics, Mr Crewe, who friends and family described as a "gentle giant", died at the scene at around 6pm. 

David Sisman, 21, of Hubert Road in Newport, is on trial for his murder. Sisman denies the charge.

Forensic pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbeatter was called to the scene in Maindee at 9.40pm on the night Mr Crewe died. 

"I saw no classical defensive injuries," said Dr Leadbeatter, who has been a forensic pathologist since 1987. Defensive injuries would include cuts to the hands and arms as a victim tries to block an attack. 

During the post-mortem, Dr Leadbeatter tried to figure out the size and design of the blade that was used. 

However, said: "It is really impossible to say what was the precise composition of the blade.

"You cannot say what the precise measurement either of the wound or the blade that made that wound was."

Dr Leadbeatter said the blade was likely to be a non-serrated and one-edged blade with a pointed tip.

The stab wound penetrated Mr Crewe's left lung, passing going through his second and third ribs, and clipping the latter. 

Dr Leadbeatter said that where the blade pierced in Mr Crewe's ribs was likely to be made up of more cartilage than bone. Cartilage is softer than bone. Bone may have stopped the blade going further into Mr Crewe's chest, depending on the force of the stab and the sharpness of the blade. 

"The sharper the point [of the blade] then the degree of force required to penetrate skin is not quite as great as one might expect," said Dr Leadbeatter.

During the post-mortem, Dr Leadbeatter was able to figure out that Mr Crewe was stabbed by a blade that was slightly angled and the wound formed a "tick shape" in the victim's chest. 

Dr Leadbeatter also had to determine which injuries on Mr Crewe's body were due to the stabbing and which were down to the emergency services trying to save his life. 

Paramedics had performed a thoracotomy, which is a procedure where surgeons or paramedics cut into the torso to get to the thoracic organs - the heart and lungs - in order to give the injured person emergency treatment. 

The trial continues.