A man accused of murdering a pub landlord allegedly told police: "You don't need any evidence, I stabbed him to f***."
Lee Abbott knifed dad-of-three Christian Thornton 11 times, after he barred him from the Hammer & Pincers in Widnes.
He stabbed the 49-year-old in the heart and lungs outside the Liverpool Road pub on Sunday, August 11 last year.
Abbott, 35, of Rose Street, Widnes, admits manslaughter but denies murder, in a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Jurors today heard Mr Thornton had barred Abbott, then reported him to the police for threatening to burn down his pub.
The landlord later made a report to Widnes PubWatch, which voted to ban Abbott from every pub in the area for a year.
Abbott was informed by letter and went to the Hammer and Pincers at around 3.15pm, armed with a knife in a rucksack.
Opening the trial, David McLachlan, QC, prosecuting, said Mr Thornton, who was practising darts, pushed Abbott outside.
Witnesses described the dad saying "no, get out, you're barred" and telling "very aggravated" Abbott: "Calm down, Lee, go home."
They said Abbott asked "Why am I barred? What have I done?" before pushing him and saying: "You know I would've protected you."
Mr McLachlan said CCTV footage showed Mr Thornton ringing 999 and showing Abbott, who walked away, but then ran at him.
One woman said Mr Thornton shouted "get back" but Abbott pulled out "a f***ing huge kitchen knife" and lunged at him.
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A man, who was stood outside, said: "There was no stopping him, he just ran like a mad man.
"He pulled his knife out and stabbed him three, two or three times, turned fell, got up and then fled."
Mr Thornton collapsed and neither paramedics nor a doctor who arrived by helicopter could save his life.
Armed police arrested Abbott when he came out of a friend's house in Ardern, Widnes at 4.22pm, wearing just his boxer shorts.
Mr McLachlan said he told officers "I attacked that Chris, yeah" and added: "You don't need any evidence, I stabbed him to f***."
He said Abbott was taken into custody and said "I've f***ed up here, I know that", then "I'm not a bad person, I've been put in a bad situation."
During police interviews, Abbott said he never had a problem with Mr Thornton, but then described an incident a month beforehand.
Mr McLachlan said Abbott explained he was with a group of men on a ramp outside the pub who were "a bit loud" and "a bit intimidating".
Abbott said he didn't know whether they upset regulars, but Thornton asked them to leave, so he said: "Right, no problem, we'll go."
CCTV showed him speaking to Mr Thornton at the pub on August 2, when they shook hands and the landlord told him he was barred.
The next day, Abbott was filmed "putting his fingers up" to a camera, then "head to head" with Mr Thornton in the beer garden, when Mr McLachlan said he threatened to burn the pub down.
However, when Mr Thornton reported him to police, he said he didn't want any formal action being taken against him, but for the incident to be logged and officers to tell him he was barred.
Two days after a Widnes PubWatch meeting on August 6, Halton Council wrote to Abbott to inform him of the 12-month ban.
On August 11, Abbott caught a taxi from his girlfriend Danielle Hayes' home to Liverpool Road, carrying his rucksack by hand as he entered the pub.
Abbott told police he tried to explain to Mr Thornton he got the group to leave in the prior incident, but the landlord "wasn't having any of it" and it became "a little bit heated".
He said when Mr Thornton got his phone out and rang 999, he ran back towards him and started stabbing him.
Abbott said: "I just panicked I didnt know what to do, I just, I just saw red and just lost it and I just... I just come down and I just pulled the knife, pulled the knife and just, and just, obviously what youve just seen on that, on, on the CCTV, I just, I just didn't, I just lost it completely."
He added: "It was so fast it was like red mist, I didn't know exactly, I couldn't recall exactly what had gone on."
Abbott accepted previously threatening Mr Thornton, saying he wouldn't have a pub if he carried on, because he was "p***ed off", which was "a daft thing to say".
However, he said he couldn't believe it when Mr Thornton tried to get him barred from every pub, which was "a bit personal".
Mr McLachlan said Abbott told police he was "really upset", had been drinking all day and was "angry".
He also said he suffered from depression and was taking testosterone replacement therapy because he had a blood disorder called haemochromatosis, which 'crashed' his hormones, and affected his mood and stability.
Police recovered the blade used to stab Mr Thornton at the scene, which had snapped in two, and the handle in Abbott's rucksack, at his friend's house.
He said he took both the knife and rucksack from his girlfriend's house because he was annoyed, and when asked why, replied: "I've no idea, I don't know what I was thinking."
Abbott accepted threatening to burn the pub down and said that when drinking: "It does send me, it sends me a little bit... a little bit nasty."
He said: "I just lost it by that point, completely lost it" and added: "I just stabbed him, I was in a, just a rage, I wasn't in control... it's scary."
However, he said: "I just saw red... obviously knew I was gonna hurt him, I knew I was gonna stab him I didn't think for one minute 'I want to kill him'."
Tests revealed Abbott was an estimated three and a half times over the drink drive limit during the attack and had cocaine and testosterone in his system.
Mr McLachan said Abbott believed it was "an injustice" when he was barred, and armed himself with a knife because he intended to either kill or inflict really serious harm on the landlord.
He said: "And what did Lee Abbott do? He stabbed and he stabbed Christian Thornton to death in broad daylight on an early Sunday afternoon."
Mr McLachlan said prosecutors understood Abbott would argue it wasn't murder because he didn't have the necessary intent, due to being "heavily intoxicated", and would rely on the partial defence of diminished responsibility due to "an abnormality of mental functioning".
Mr McLachlan said: "We do not accept either of these defences and will assert that this is simply a case of murder.
"Murder pure and simple, where a man knows what he did, he took a knife to the scene, and he stabbed somebody 11 times."
(Proceeding)
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Murder accused stabbed pub landlord 11 times after he was barred - Liverpool Echo
