THE murder trial into the death of a woman who was found with a shampoo bottle inside her had to be postponed this afternoon after a juror collapsed.

Prosecutor William Mousley had started his opening into the case which sees Daniel McBride accused of murdering Southampton woman Majella Lynch, when the female juror fainted.

Mr Justice Ekenhead was forced to clear the court and postpone the hearing while she got medical attention.

Mr Mousely was only ten minutes into his opening of the case against 43-year-old McBride from St Deny's Road, Southampton.

He told the court that Ms Lynch, known as Maj to her friends, underwent emergency surgery to remove a full 400ml bottle of shampoo from her abdomen area but tragically died of infection in hospital days later.

It is the prosecutions case that McBride inserted the bottle and is therefore responsible for her murder in April last year. He denies the charge.

Opening the case, Prosecutor William Mousley said: "Such a sadistic and brutal act on a vulnerable victim clearly demonstrates the prosecution say an intention to cause serious injury and even in the highly unlikely event that she had agreed to, or gone along with what he did and as such the prosecution say this is a case of murder."

Mr Mousely said it is the prosecutions case that it would not have been "self-inflicted" and called it a "perverted sexual assault".

The jury heard how Ms Lynch was found at her home in St Mary's Road on April 18 last year in agonising pain by her support workers.

Mr Mousely said she was extremely reluctant to say what had happened and initially refused to answer questions on what happened but told the first nurse she saw at hospital that she had been assaulted.

She underwent emergency surgery to have the shampoo bottle removed but she died of an infection on April 20.

The court heard that McBride visited Ms Lynch's basement flat between 3.40am and 6.15am on April 18.

Mr Mousely said he was in the "mood for sexual interaction" having had an argument with his girlfriend the previous night and had been rejected by a woman he met while out that night.

The prosecution say Ms Lynch had no visitors the week leading up to her death apart from her carers, and revealed blood found at the scene was a DNA match to McBride, who the prosecution say had an interest in violent sexual activities.

The court heard how after the attack he went to a friends house and when he couldn't get in, he went to a shop and went home "without a thought for Maj's suffering, indifferent to whether she would live or die".

The jury was told how Ms Lynch, who had a son who was adopted, was a chronic drinker who had a "chaotic lifestyle" and was "vulnerable to exploitation whether physical, sexual or financial".

The bottle found inside Ms Lynch had been bought by one of her carers along with the conditioner, in a bid to encourage her to wash.

The court also heard about McBride's background and how a previous girlfriend found him too "forceful" and described him as having a "split personality".