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Darren Parker murder trial: Stabbing was an accident, says defendant

A teenager accused of stabbing a man twice through the heart during a dispute with the victim's stepson has claimed it was an accident.

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Darren Parker was allegedly murdered while trying to defend stepson Sean Varden who had been knifed once in the chest at the next door flat of defendant Demarco Martin where he had gone in search of a stolen TV, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

But the 19-year-old defendant yesterday maintained the two men 'burst' through the front door in Campville Crescent, Stone Cross, West Bromwich on April 6.

He told the jury while giving evidence: "Sean Varden was in front and the other man, who I now know to have been Darren Parker, was behind him.

"I picked up a knife and started waving it around to scare Sean and he turned and ran off.

"That is when he must have been stabbed in the chest although I did not realise this at the time.

"Darren Parker was still coming towards me. He was angry and a big man, over 6ft and 20 stone.

"I felt intimidated. He was trying to throw punches at me. I kept pushing the knife out in front of me, trying to scare him off.

"The last time I pushed it out and brought it back there was blood on it. He turned and ran.

"I was panicking because I realised that I had stabbed someone. I had not intended to injure him. It was all over in what seemed like seconds."

Martin cycled to the nearby home of the parents of his girlfriend where he was later arrested. As he left his flat he saw a man lying on the ground outside the block, the court heard.

The defendant told the jury: "It was Darren Parker. A woman was on her knees next to him. I thought he was in a bad way."

He also passed Sean Varden. "He was sitting on the floor. He shouted at me: 'When I catch you, you are dead.' I killed Darren Parker and put a hole in Sean Varden's lung. I feel upset about that but it was not intended."

Mr Richard Atkins QC, prosecuting, said during cross examination of Martin: "You have now given three different versions of the events that happened that afternoon. Which one, if any, is the truth?"

The prosecutor said that in one version the defendant had claimed Mr Varden visited the flat alone before returning later with Mr Parker while stating in another statement that there was a single visit. Martin was unable to explain the discrepancy, the jury heard.

He also said in a statement that both men were armed but declared only one of them had a knuckle duster in another version of events, the court was told.

Martin denies the murder of 43-year-old Mr Parker and the attempted murder of Mr Varden.

The trial continues.

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