A man 'laughed and joked' with his father before kissing him and then stabbing him in the chest, a court has heard. Andrew Roberts, 37, is accused of attempting to murder his 56-year-old father, David Roberts, at the victim's one-bedroom flat on Big Meadow Road in Woodchurch, Wirral, on December 16 last year.
Background of the Incident
David Roberts testified at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, describing how his son had been staying with him for a few days after being homeless. 'I kept getting text messages from him, saying he was homeless,' Mr Roberts said. 'He had nowhere to go, because him and his wife had an argument. He was out on the streets for a couple of nights. He kept pleading with me. I just gave in because of the weather and everything else. I just thought, he can't sleep outside in that.'
On the morning of the alleged stabbing, the defendant appeared 'relatively happy,' according to his father. They cleaned the kitchen together and were 'laughing and joking. It was just a normal, happy day.'
The Attack
Mr Roberts recounted the attack: 'After we cleaned the kitchen walls, we just settled down, put the TV on to watch a movie, laughing and joking about stupid things. I was sitting in the armchair by my living room door. After sitting down for, I dunno how long, he basically got up off the sofa to go up to the toilet, I presumed. Basically, he stood behind my armchair and started punching me in the back of the head, side of the head. It must have been a couple of times, more. I can't quite remember.'
Mr Roberts, who had recently undergone two operations for cauda equina and needed two hands to lift himself out of the chair, was unable to escape. He said: 'I was stuck to my seat. I sort of leant forward to try and get out the way, said 'what you doing Andy?', basically. Then the punches continued, to the back of the head, side of the head. Then he pushed my head sideways. I was just stuck in the chair, because I need my arms to get up.'
As the punches continued, Mr Roberts raised his left hand to defend himself. 'I thought, something's not quite right here. I brought my left hand up to try to protect my neck. The angle of the punches changed.' He became emotional in the witness box before continuing: 'It all happened so fast. All of a sudden, I felt something strange on my hand. Then, I felt the wetness. Blood, from my fingers, from the knife.'
Mr Roberts stated that his son was 'continuously trying to stab him in the neck area' before delivering a blow to the chest. 'I just felt a thump on my chest. That's when I basically looked down and seen the blood coming out of my chest. I was pierced in the chest once. He tried to do it again. I can't quite remember that bit. I think the shock kicked in. I just went into panic mode. I felt the blood trickling down. I knew something was really up.'
After the stabbing, the defendant ran out of the flat. Mr Roberts used his walker to lock the door behind him, then called an ambulance. He was taken to Aintree Hospital, where doctors discovered a 4cm stab wound to the right side of his chest and a laceration to his left hand. A knife blade smeared with the victim's blood was recovered from the lounge floor.
Previous Interaction
Earlier, while watching the film, the defendant had kissed his father on the head and said, 'This will be the last kiss you ever get from me.' Mr Roberts said: 'He's never done that before, but we always laughed and joked together. He sort of had a smile on his face. I thought he was joking about, like we normally do. I just shrugged it off. I didn't think nothing of it, to tell you the truth.'
Mr Roberts also mentioned that £30 in cash had gone missing from his flat, and he had asked his son about it, but the defendant denied taking it.
Prosecution's Case
Prosecutor Gerry Baxter told the jury that Roberts 'had a lot to drink' on the evening of December 15 but apologised to his father the next morning and promised not to drink so much again. The pair then watched a film together. However, when the defendant got up from the couch, his father thought he was going to the toilet, but instead, Roberts walked behind him and began punching him before stabbing him.
The court heard that Roberts fled the flat and was later spotted by police drinking a can of lager on Rake Lane. He ran away but was eventually traced to an alleyway near Arrowe Park Road and arrested. He had a small cut on the back of his neck and dried blood on his hands. The black hooded coat he was wearing was never recovered, nor was the knife handle.
Defendant's Statement
In a prepared statement, Roberts alleged that his father was drunk and 'carrying on, calling his wife a slag and a jumped up, mouthy b****' before the incident. He claimed his father 'lunged towards him' and punched him in the head during a 'scuffle.' Roberts said he responded by punching his father and 'swiped at him and missed,' but denied stabbing him. He also claimed his father was 'paranoid about people entering his home' and 'armed himself with knives and batons,' adding that it was 'possible he had one in his top pocket.'
However, messages recovered from Roberts' phone painted a different picture. The night before the stabbing, he told his wife Colleen: 'I wanna come home or kill him' and 'I'm gonna kill Dave.' At around 11.30pm, he added: 'I want to get nicked. Got a meat cleaver, so I'm safe.' The following morning, his wife told him: 'After the carry on, I'm done' and 'you've drank again and became aggressive.' Roberts replied at 11.20am: 'If you don't hear from me, I've killed him,' and at 12.12pm: 'I'm going to kill this Dave.' At around 12.30pm, he wrote: 'He's getting killed I swear' and 'I'm going to stab him,' as well as threatening to 'choke the c***.' At 2.29pm, about 15 minutes before the stabbing, he asked his partner: 'Would you stand by me if I killed Dave?'
Roberts, appearing via video link from HMP Liverpool, denies attempted murder and wounding with intent. The trial, before Judge Simon Medland KC, continues.
