A man knifed his housemate to death after he burst into their local pub and demanded he be bought drinks, a court has heard.
Christopher Baptiste, 54, is accused of killing Sonny Booty, 36, with a 16in (40cm) carving knife at the terraced house where they both lived in Lewisham, south-east London, on August 13 last year.
Opening his trial at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Robert O’Sullivan KC said the two men had a “volatile” friendship and had spent that evening drinking and playing pool at the Anchor pub.
Just after 10.30pm an argument broke out and the pair were asked to leave by the landlady, jurors were told.
Later, neighbours near their home in Loampit Vale allegedly heard voices saying “Shut your mouth before I kill you” and “Stop it”.
A housemate who had been watching television and listening to music in an upstairs flat was alerted by the defendant hammering on his door, the court heard.
Baptiste said he had a “tear up” with Mr Booty after he had shown him up at the pub in front of other people, demanding drinks, it was claimed.
He allegedly confided that “it was really naughty what I done” and he was “going to get bird this time”.
The defendant also called friends and allegedly told one: “I’ve killed my flatmate. This had been brewing for a while.”
Just before 9am on August 14, Baptiste walked into Lewisham police station and said: “I’ve murdered my flatmate,” the court heard.
The officer on reception replied: “I beg your pardon?”
Baptiste allegedly said: “I think I’ve murdered him, my flatmate. There was a knife being waved around and I’ve got cuts on my hands.”
Mr O’Sullivan told jurors: “Police officers immediately went there and gained entry to the ground floor flat, where they discovered a trail of blood leading from the rear bedroom out into the back yard. A bloodstained carving knife was lying on the bed.
“In the back yard they found Sonny Booty, lying on his back on the ground. He was dead and had clearly been dead for some time. He was covered in blood, which had dried, his body was stiff to the touch and had attracted flies.
“He had suffered multiple stab wounds, including to his face, head, chest, buttocks and thigh.”
A post-mortem examination found Mr Booty had been stabbed 14 times, with the fatal wound to the heart.
On August 15, Baptiste said in a prepared statement that he “had to defend” himself as Mr Booty had a knife.
Baptiste has since suggested that when he left Mr Booty’s flat he was “alive and well”, the court was told.
But Mr O’Sullivan told jurors: “The prosecution case is that the defendant, and no-one else, unlawfully killed Sonny Booty, just as he admitted to his friends that night and to the police when he handed himself in.
“Sonny Booty received 14 separate stab wounds to his face and body, leaving no room, the prosecution says, for the suggestion that he was acting in self-defence.”
Baptiste denies murder and the Old Bailey trial continues.
