An alleged killer said he hid for days after stabbing a dad-of-two through the heart after he was made the subject of death threats online.
Adam Fletcher told a jury part of the reason why he didn’t hand himself into police after stabbing Paul Stenson was because he thought people would try to target him even if he was held in prison.
Fletcher allegedly murdered Mr Stenson on Princess Drive in December - 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.
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Prosecutors say that knife wound inflicted “catastrophic” damage, going straight through Mr Stenson’s heart and causing him to bleed to death quickly. They also say Fletcher, 28, tried to dodge justice for days after the killing with the help of his then girlfriend, Susie Lee, ex Demi Walsh and best friend Nathan Finnegan.
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.
Today, Adam Fletcher gave evidence before the jury and repeated claims he made earlier to police that he grabbed a knife from inside the house after hearing threats against him and feeling his life was in danger. The court heard last week that in a prepared statement he told police that someone had said he would get “poked up” after a fight between Fletcher and Mr Stenson escalated.
Giving evidence in court today, Fletcher said again that he feared he himself would be injured when he was told to “get outside” to finish his fight with Mr Stenson. Fletcher admitted to police that he then went to the kitchen and got the knife, with the reference to him being “poked up” making him think someone was going to stab him.
He said a number of men supporting Mr Stenson were outside in the moments before he used the knife to stab him through the heart and said he did not take the knife with him to try to target Mr Stenson. Peter Finnegan QC, defending Fletcher, asked him whether he intended to hurt Mr Stenson when he used the knife.
Mr Finnegan said: “When you used that knife were you intending to kill Paul Stenson?” Fletcher replied: “No.”
Mr Finnegan asked: “Were you intending to cause him really serious injury?” Fletcher replied: “No.”
Fletcher, who was arrested on December 23 after being in hiding for four days, also said it was online death threats that made him hide after Mr Stenson was killed. The court heard today that Fletcher told Nathan Finnegan, Susie Lee and Demi Walsh that he had acted in self defence when he spoke with them via calls and texts in the days after Mr Stenson's death.
Lee had been at the party with Fletcher but he said she remained inside during the moment Mr Stenson was stabbed out on the road in front of the house. Fletcher said that when he was hiding in the following day Nathan Finnegan then saw a number of posts on social media relating to Mr Stenson’s death that he took as being death threats towards Fletcher.
Responding to a question from Peter Finnegan about why he felt his life was at risk, Fletcher said Nathan Finnegan had described one of the videos to him and said it included a man making threats towards him. Fletcher said: “He was asking people to get me and he was saying my full name in the video.”
Fletcher said at the time he felt he would not be safe from the threats if he was in police custody but in later messages to Demi Walsh, his estranged partner and mum of his child, he said he regretted his decision and said “they are going to slam me” because he took so long to be arrested.
Explaining that message in court today, Fletcher said: “I felt like, the longer I left it, the less likely it is anyone would believe what I said and that people would think I didn’t want to face justice and that is not what it is.” Fletcher was eventually arrested by police on December 23 and was later charged with murder.
Proceeding
