Man stabbed on Christmas Day told friend he was 'scared' of alleged killer - trial told
A witness claims the man who was murdered on Chirstmas Day in Norton Canes claims he told her that he was "scared of" his alleged killer and that she had "been violent towards him" before.
Aston Villa fan and father-of-six Louis Price, aged 31, died from a stab wound to the chest after Kirsty Carless, with whom he had an on/off relationship, allegedly attacked him at his parents' home, in Elm Road, in Norton Canes near Cannock, in the early hours of Christmas Day.
Carless,with whom he shared a daughter, is on trial at Stafford Crown Court charged with his murder.
Giving evidence in the witness box at for the prosecution on Wednesday (July 16), Demi Deakin told the jury that she had been a school friend of the dead man and that last summer she moved into a flat opposite the defendant, in Hayling Way, in Cannock.
She explained that Mr Price attended her grandmother's wake in the autumn and while there, they spoke about his relationship with Carless. "He said he was scared of Kirsty and if he didn't leave soon he thought something bad would happen. He said he was only going back to see his daughter," Miss Deakin said.
Barrister Mr Jonas Hankin KC, prosecuting, asked the witness if she had been drinking alcohol at the time of the conversation to which she replied: " Yes and I was able to understand what he was saying. I remember it. He said she was violent towards him."
Relating to an incident last November when the defendant poured bleach on Mr Price's clothes, Miss Deakin said: "I was walking my dog back home from the field and Louis and Kirsty were arguing outside. I witnessed the whole thing.
!The front door was open and Louis was standing on the driveway. Kirsty was on the phone to her mom Maureen at the time. I knew that because I heard Louis saying so to Kirsty and he was shouting out comments about Maureen."
"I saw Kirsty tip male clothes in a blue recycling bin. Louis was at the bottom of the driveway. I think he was waiting the for the police to come. Kirsty went back into the house and proceeded to threw a shoe out of the top window which hit him on the head. The police arrived about 25 minutes later and Kirsty was arrested."
Cross-examining her Miss Michelle Heeley KC said it was a trainer which struck Mr Price and she put to Miss Deakin that she disliked the defendant. To which Miss Deakin replied: "I didn't know her, not to like her."
The jury also heard that over a two-year period Staffordshire Police received numerous phone calls from Carless and Mr Price involving abusive rows, complaints of threats, violence and physical fights including an instance when Mr Price was arrested for damaging her property in May 2023.
The court previously heard that Carless had pleaded guilty to criminal damage relating to the bleaching incident. Carless, aged 33, of Haling Way, Cannock, denies murder and possessing a knife on December 25; and denies intentionally strangling Mr Price and assaulting him in November last year.
The trial continues.