Murder accused 'saw red' on victim's chest after row turned violent, court hears
A murder trial heard how one of three teenage defendants "saw red on his chest" before the victim fell to the floor.
Peter Cairns, aged 26, died after an attack in Silkin Way, Telford, on June 11 last year. Three teenagers from Telford, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are standing trial for his murder at Stafford Crown Court.
Mr Cairns was found on a footpath with serious injuries from a stab wound and died in hospital later that evening.
In a police interview played to the court, one of the defendants said it was another male - who is not standing trial - who was responsible for killing Mr Cairns.
"I just saw red on his (Mr Cairns') chest," he said. "He was stood up and then he was on the floor." A police officer asked: "How many times did he stab him?" The defendant replied: "Just once," but said that the male he alleged had the knife "moved his hand a lot".
"I saw his arm move back and forward and the guy on the floor."
He claimed to the officers that he was 20-30 metres away when Mr Cairns was stabbed, and that he did not stay with the group in the immediate aftermath, but went to his nan's.
The trio deny murder. The trial continues.
An earlier version of this report said that victim Peter Cairns, who had a moped with him, had asked the three defendants: “what are you ******* staring at?” This quote should not have been attributed to Mr Cairns, but to another man who was with Mr Cairns. We apologise for the error.
