The trial of a 28 year old accused of murdering a dad-of-two has reached the end of its first week.
Adam Fletcher allegedly murdered Paul Stenson outside a home on Princess Drive in West Derby on December 18 last year - only hours after the two met at a party there. After an argument between the two turned into a scuffle and they were 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 lone knife wound inflicted “catastrophic” damage, going straight through 30-year-old Mr Stenson’s heart and causing him to bleed to death within an hour. They also say Fletcher, 28, tried to dodge justice for days after the killing with the help of his then girlfriend, Susie Lee, and friends, Demi Walsh and Nathan Finnegan.
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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.
The trial has heard from a range of prosecution witnesses this week. Richard Pratt, QC, prosecuting, told jurors on Tuesday, the trial’s first full day, that neither Mr Stenson nor Fletcher were invited to the 21st birthday party where the incident took place and were instead both invited by separate sets of friends who wanted to see them.
Mr Pratt said: “They had come to that party in apparent good spirits. However, before daybreak the 30 year old, Paul Stenson, would be pronounced dead having been stabbed by the other man, Adam Fletcher.”
He told the jury that Mr Stenson’s partner, Samantha Rosser, had been out in the garden of having a cigarette when Fletcher came up to her and began speaking to her in a “flirtatious” way. In her evidence to police, and in court again today, she said she felt uncomfortable about it and told her partner about it. Mr Stenson then went to speak to Fletcher but Ms Rosser said when she went into the hallway to check on them they seemed civil. Mr Pratt said Ms Rosser was frustrated by this and went to walk home.
However, a short time later other partygoers reported a scuffle starting inside the kitchen between Fletcher and Mr Stenson. After being asked to leave, Mr Pratt said prosecutors believed Fletcher then grabbed a kitchen knife from a knife block in the kitchen before going outside.
Eyewitnesses who gave their evidence through the rest of the week described what they saw next. They included Ms Rosser and Mr Stenson's best friend, who both described the traumatic scenes during and immediately after his stabbing.
Ms Rosser, who had been with Mr Stenson since the two were teenagers, told jurors how she ran back to the scene after hearing a commotion while she was walking down the road. By the time she got there, her partner of 15 years was lying on the floor. He was taken to Aintree Hospital but died within an hour.
Liam Fletcher, of no relation to the defendant, was Mr Stenson’s best friend and one of the few people who saw the stabbing. He described how Mr Stenson had punched Adam Fletcher inside the house and agreed to go outside to continue the fight - but said he had no inclination of what would happen next.
He said he saw Fletcher reach to the back of his trousers before pulling out a knife and plunging it into Mr Stenson’s side. The pathologist who performed a post mortem on Mr Stenson told the trial on Thursday that the wound went straight through his heart, causing catastrophic damage.
He said efforts by Mr Stenson’s loved ones to save him would have been in vain because of the nature of the wound. Finally, jurors heard a range of evidence from officers who investigated the case. They described a slew of text messages between Adam Fletcher and Susie Lee, Demi Walsh and Nathan Finnegan.
Prosecutors say these messages show all three of them were instrumental in helping Fletcher avoid arrest until days after Mr Stenson died.
Fletcher, 28, of Palace Road, denies murder and possession of a bladed article. Finnegan, 30, of Rosalind Way, and Walsh, 28, of Redbourn Street, both deny assisting an offender. Lee, 21, of New Road, denies assisting an offender and intimidating a witness.
The trial will continue next week, though it is likely to be affected by a nationwide barristers’ strike on Monday and Tuesday. That action, over a long running dispute with the government about legal aid, means more evidence is not likely to be heard until later in the week.
Proceeding
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