Charles Kelly murder accused held a grudge, court told

A man accused of stabbing a father-of-six to death on the doorstep of his Black Country home had papers relating to an old crime in which the pair had both been involved, a court heard.

Dc Jeff Glock told a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court he had found the documents during a search of the house where 50-year-old Stephen Lal was staying in Wednesbury.

Lal is accused of murdering Charles Kelly in Oldbury last year and the trial jury has heard how the men were both jailed for different periods for a pub attack in 1994.

The prosecution allege Lal held a grudge against Mr Kelly over the incident.

Mr Kelly was jailed for three years for conspiring to carry out the attack while Lal was jailed for nine years for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Mr Glock told jurors: "During a search of a house in St Luke's Road, Wednesbury, I saw a pile of committal papers relating to a court case in 1994.

"I also found a torn-up witness statement connected to Mr Kelly."

Lal, of St Luke's Road, Wednesbury, denies the murder of 57-year-old Mr Kelly, who was stabbed 15 times on July 16.

Meanwhile, jurors were told how Lal's sister Helen looked "nervous" when she told officers she had been with her brother on the evening Mr Kelly was stabbed. The 56-year-old, of Hillfield, Smethwick, denies a charge of perverting the course of justice.

In evidence, Dc Thomas Cunningham-Smith said he had interviewed Helen Lal with a colleague at her home on the afternoon of July 18. He said: "She was holding the door close but reluctantly let us into the address. She said she had seen Stephen on the Friday night when he had called round after she had got back from the pub. She seemed nervous. She was shaking, her voice was quavering.

"She was trying to light a cigarette but her hand was shaking."

Mr Cunningham-Smith said Helen Lal told them her brother had arrived during American police show The Mentalist.

She referred to the TV guide for Friday night to confirm the time, he added. The officer said Helen Lal had initially been reluctant to give a written statement but agreed when officers returned to the house.

The trial continues.