Murder trial told of fight between cousins in Staffordshire street

Connan McLeod died from a single stab wound after the knife penetrated his heart and left lung and was left embedded in his chest, Stafford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Daniel Allott is accused of murdering the 23-year-old in Whitemill Lane, Stone, on April 12.

Allott denies the charge claiming it was an accident and Mr McLeod had impaled himself on the knife.

Opening the case, Mr Robert Price said: "The fatal blow was delivered quite deliberately and carried with it an intention at the very least to cause Connan McLeod really serious bodily injury."

He said the night before Mr McLeod died, 27-year-old Allott had been attending the 22nd birthday party of Harriet Clay who lived in a flat in Whitemill Lane.

The court heard that Mr McLeod had been with a friend at a park off Whitemill Lane on the same night, where they had met Allott who had also been with others.

Mr Price said there was a conversation between Mr McLeod and Allott, who were not known to each other, before Allott's cousin Nicholas Cooper confronted Mr McLeod and his friend. He said Mr Cooper had too much to drink and became aggressive, while Allott struck Mr McLeod to the back of his head with a beer bottle.

Both parties left each other but Mr McLeod made a 'fatal error of judgement' by returning to the scene with friends, Mr Price said. He said Mr McLeod was not armed when he arrived at Whitemill Lane.

The court heard that words were exchanged between Mr McLeod and Mr Cooper before they began to have a 'fist fight' in the street. Mr Price said that during the fight Allott had emerged from the flat armed with a large kitchen knife and stabbed Mr McLeod.

Police and paramedics attended Whitemill Lane at around 12.40am on April 12, but despite their best effortsMr McLeod was pronounced dead at the scene.

Allott of Bagots Oak, Stafford, presented himself at a police station on the afternoon of April 13. The trial continues.