A MAN accused of murdering a Chester doorman, had stabbed a man in a city street after he kicked off his car wing-mirror, a court heard.
On the fifth day of a trial into the murder of Boughton Heath man Martin Ithell, 49, the jury were told by defendant Scott Davidson’s ex-girlfriend, Katie Couchman about how Davidson confessed to stabbing a man in March 2009.
Davidson, 23, of Frodsham, and Rachael Horton, 19, of Little Sutton and who worked in telesales in Connah’s Quay, deny murdering the debt collector and doorman.
Miss Couchman told the court the couple had been walking through Frodsham when she noticed Davidson had become quiet.
Miss Couchman, a hairdresser, who lives in Ashton Drive, Frodsham, said: “I was walking along and rambling, as I do and I said to Scott, ‘what’s wrong?‘ He said, ‘please don’t judge me’ and I just asked him to tell me what was wrong.
“He told me he had stabbed someone and that it had happened in Chester.”
Andrew Thomas, representing co-accused Rachael Horton, of Hawthorn Road, said that during a police interview after the alleged murder of Mr IIthell, Miss Couchman told police how her ex-partner had ‘freely offered the information’ to her.
The court heard the alleged stabbing had taken place after a drunken man had ‘banged’ into Davidson’s car which had been parked near Eastgate Street and kicked the wing-mirror off.
She claimed Davidson had later stabbed the man after he had collapsed in an alleyway with a brown-handled knife which he kept in his car.
Miss Couchman added: “He said he kept it for protection.”
Miss Couchman also gave an eye-witness account about Davidson who she saw walking past her home on Ashton Road, Frodsham, on a Friday in early March.
The court heard Miss Couchman had gone out to the back gate to speak to her family and friends about a helicopter that was flying overhead when she saw Davidson walking towards a railway bridge off Ashton Road on the opposite side of the road at about 7.55pm.
She said he had looked up and ‘smirked’ at the helicopter as he walked past but did not acknowledge her.
She could not confirm an exact date to the court.
Earlier in the proceedings the jury at Liverpool Crown Court heard from David Hughes, publican at The Olive Grove pub in Broxton, Chester.
Mr Hughes told the court he owed Rob Hughes £5,000. It is alleged Scott Davidson was sent to the pub to collect the cash on behalf of Rob Hughes in the early evening of Tuesday, March 8.
“I didn’t know who it was – I hadn’t seen him before,” said Mr Hughes.
Mr Hughes said the man spoke aggressively to him.
Mr Hughes said he was told his name was ‘Simon’ but he later identified him as the defendant Davidson. He said he had his fingers in his waistband and ‘looked like he had a gun’.
It is claimed Davidson had threatened to return to the pub the next day to collect the cash, but Mr Hughes asked for Rob Hughes’ telephone number to discuss the issue which Davidson gave to him.
Davidson left the pub in his car and turned left in the Nantwich direction.
Pratt, defending Davidson, said the pair were talking “firmly to one another” and that David Hughes had ‘stood his corner’ throughout the conversation.
During cross-examination, Mr Pratt said Mr Hughes had been handed an email print out from Rob Hughes’ solicitor to confirm an agreement to pay back the £5,000 in installments. The witness denied being handed a document.
Mr Pratt said: “You didn’t see a gun did you? Or the shape of a gun did you? You had no reason to believe he had a gun.”
Mr Hughes replied: “It wasn’t just because he had his fingers down his waistband it was his body language as well. I’ve been a publican for 20 years and I know when someone who is threatening comes in – I know what is threatening behaviour.”
The court was shown CCTV footage of the two defendants the afternoon before the alleged murder of Mr Ithell at Hawthorne Road, Frodsham by Davidson and Horton on the evening on Friday, March 11.
A statement read by Manley Boarding Kennels’ owner, Gaynor Jones, said former employee Davidson had asked to leave his Subaru car at the kennels because he was “having his driveway tarmaced”.
The couple were later seen at B&M home store at about 2.45pm at Boughton Retail Centre, on Boughton, Chester buying a number of decorating materials, including a 9ft by 12ft cotton dust sheet.
As well as a caramel egg, a polythene dust sheet, paint and gloss, the couple bought a roller set, before heading to Tesco in Broughton to buy food at about 4.10pm.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Chester, the jury were shown footage of Mr Ithell paying for petrol at Sainsbury’s in Boughton Heath at about 4.45pm, where he used the Nectar card which was later found in the hallway of Davidson’s rented home where he was alleged to have been stabbed and shot by the two defendants.