Murder-accused denies fatal stabbing - court

A man accused of fatally stabbing an unwanted guest outside his on-off girlfriend's home told police he slipped while holding the knife due to running in socks, a court heard.

John Robinson in on trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of killing Mason Jones, following a confrontation in Burley in Wharefdale in March.

Prosecutor David Outterside said the 30-year-old had deliberately stabbed Jones, who was said to be unarmed, in the abdomen with a personalised Japanese chef's knife he brought to his ex's home.

Robinson, of Derry Hill in Menston, denies murder, manslaughter and possessing a blade in public.

Opening the case for the prosecution, the barrister said that Robinson told police officers during interview after his arrest that he was trying defend his ex-partner, Annabelle Ramsey, when Jones was stabbed.

Outterside said Robinson told police that Jones had hold of Ramsey, 23, around the neck after a confrontation and that he was trying to protect her.

"The prosecution say he armed himself with the knife and the defendant deliberately stabbed Mason Jones.

"We say the defendant intended to cause serious injury to Mason Jones," the prosecutor explained.

The court heard Ramsey had contacted Robinson on Snapchat on the evening before the incident, saying she wanted "to be left alone and wanted to move along with her life".

She invited a female friend over and they spent the evening together, drinking alcohol and taking cocaine.

The pair contacted Ramsey's friend Will Clarke and Jones, who had been out drinking in Bury, inviting them to her home.

The men, who had also been taking cocaine, arrived at the flat before Ramsey kicked them out following a disagreement.

At 07:30 GMT, Ramsey asked her female friend to leave and later called Ramsey, who arrived in a taxi.

The pair were alone for 20 minutes but were then interrupted by Jones and Clarke knocking on the flat's door.

After shouting through a window, Ramsey went downstairs to remonstrate with them. She was followed by Robinson, who then approached Jones with the knife.

CCTV played to the court showed the victim collapsing in the street, around the corner from the flat, and bystanders calling emergency services.

Robinson and Ramsey took a taxi to Menston, which Outterside said they had done using the name Matthew.

Jones, 30, was taken to Leeds General Infirmary with "catastrophic" bleeding and died later that day.

Robinson was arrested at his home at 11:20.

Outterside told Judge Jonathan Carroll and the jury that Robinson had brought a 17.4cm (6.9in) Japanese chef's knife to Ramsey's home – the same weapon that caused Jones' fatal wound.

The knife, which had been a Christmas present from Ramsey to Robinson, had the defendant's forename on the oak handle and a protective leather sheath, the court heard.

"It is agreed the defendant held the knife when it entered Mason Jones' body. A single knife wound caused the death of Mason Jones," the barrister added.

The trial continues

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