An alleged killer told police he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed a dad-of-two after he was threatened and told he would “get poked up”.
Adam Fletcher said he feared for his life in the moments before he fatally wounded Paul Stenson outside a house in West Derby last year. Fletcher allegedly murdered Mr Stenson on Princess Drive on December 18 - only hours after the two met at a party there.
After an argument between the two turned into a scuffle and they were apparently asked to go outside, Fletcher is said to have grabbed a kitchen knife from inside the home before hiding it behind his back, pulling Mr Stenson towards him and plunging it into his side. Prosecutors say that knife wound inflicted “catastrophic” damage, going straight through Mr Stenson’s heart and causing him to bleed to death quickly.
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They also say Fletcher, 28, tried to dodge justice for days after the killing with the help of his then girlfriend, Susie Lee, ex Demi Walsh and best friend Nathan Finnegan. Fletcher stands accused of murder and of possessing a bladed article. Lee, Walsh and Finnegan are all accused of assisting an offender, while Lee also faces an additional charge of witness intimidation.
The four deny all the charges and are currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Today, the court heard Fletcher’s statements to police when he was arrested days after Mr Stenson died of his injuries. Friends of Mr Stenson have previously described how they saw him punch Fletcher inside the house before the pair went outside to finish a fight which they believed would not involve weapons.
However, Fletcher, arrested by police on December 23, said he was threatened in the moments before the pair went to the front of the house, causing him to go to the kitchen and get a knife to protect himself. In his prepared statement, read out to jurors by Richard Pratt QC, prosecuting, Fletcher said he first came across Mr Stenson after having a cigarette in the back garden of the home and speaking to his partner, Samantha Rosser.
Earlier in the trial, Ms Rosser said she had felt Fletcher was trying to flirt with her and said she had told Mr Stenson about this. While Fletcher didn’t accept he was flirting with Ms Rosser, he said Mr Stenson did come and speak to him about that allegation and appeared to accept his explanation that it was a misunderstanding.
Mr Stenson’s friend Liam Fletcher, of no relation to the defendant, said last week that a few minutes after that conversation Mr Stenson went up to Adam Fletcher and punched him. Adam Fletcher also said this to police, however his account of what happened next diverged from Liam Fletcher’s. Adam Fletcher told police others then got involved in the fight and threatened him.
His statement said: “It was at this time other males joined in the attack. They ordered me outside, saying ‘you’re going to get poked up’.” Fletcher said that statement and their attitude towards him caused him to “come to the conclusion that they were armed with weapons, particularly after they said I was getting poked up”.
He told police that he was “terrified” by this point and went to the kitchen to grab a knife to defend himself and went outside. Fletcher’s statement said: “I was about to be stabbed and, in self defence, I, with the knife, injured the deceased.”
After Mr Stenson was stabbed, Fletcher ran off and remained in hiding for a few days. In his statement, he said he “fully intended” to hand himself in but said he was receiving threats against his own life at the time.
Prosecutors have said previously they don’t accept Fletcher’s claim of self defence and have labelled it a “desperate attempt to justify the unjustifiable”. The prosecution case is set to formally conclude when the trial resumes next week. Each of the four defendants will then put their case to the jury.
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