A MAN "accidentally" stabbed his mum to death as she tried to stop him knifing someone else in a fight outside a pub, a court heard.
Jamie Dempsey, 32, went on trial accused of murdering his mother Karen Dempsey after violence erupted outside Brambles in Merseyside.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Karen's son accidentally knifed her in the heart while trading blows with another man to whom he owed a drug debt of thousands of pounds.
Karen, 55, from Kirkby, Merseyside, was later found in a car park with a stab wound to the chest.
Dempsey claimed he was "glassed" inside the premises by Brian Flynn, who was also then stabbed, a court heard.
Afterwards, Dempsey claimed to have been acting in self-defence and told police "I was scared for my life, what do you want me to do?".
Read More in News
Nicola Bulley cops face fury as ‘police didn’t find her, public did’
Mackenzie Crook says sister-in-law may have had ‘crisis’ before vanishing
Peter Glenser KC, prosecuting, said Dempsey and his mother met at the pub for a drink on August 22 last year.
But Dempsey had raised concerns about potentially seeing Flynn at this location "as there had been unpleasantness between them nearby before".
The court heard that Dempsey had "run up an unpaid drug debt of some £2,000" with Flynn, who was also at the pub that evening.
Shortly after 8pm, Flynn returned from the toilets and hurled a glass at Dempsey, hitting him on the back of the head, the court was told.
Most read in UK News
Nicola Bulley cops face fury as 'police didn't find her, public did'
TikTok issues statement after Nicola Bulley's family blast social media
Nicola Bulley diver hits back at critics and says 'I will not be the fall guy'
Our once-thriving city centre is now a 'ghost town' full of empty shops
Flynn then "followed up this assault with punches" thrown at Dempsey.
After Karen and others restrained him, Flynn picked up a second glass and threw it at Dempsey, who fled via the back door.
The confrontation between the two men spilled outside the pub, with Dempsey now clutching a knife in his right hand.
He stabbed Flynn at least twice before a man, referred to in court only as "Male A", and his own mother attempted to intervene.
But the knife tragically "made contact" with Karen's chest, leaving her with blood pouring down her dress.
The fighting then stopped and Dempsey hugged her before leaving the area, the court heard.
However, she collapsed moments later, the knife having pierced her heart and liver.
Karen, a grandmother, was rushed to Aintree University Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 9.45pm.
Flynn, who was "heavily bloodstained", was stopped by police near the scene and arrested before being hospitalised with a stab wound to the left armpit.
The court heard that Dempsey went to his aunt's house and told her there had "been a fight and he had stabbed his mother".
He took off his clothes and asked his cousin to burn them, although the relative did not do so.
'SCARED FOR MY LIFE'
Dempsey then went to an off-licence and bought cans of beer, before he was later dropped at Kirkby police station by a friend.
As the police station was closed, Dempsey phoned Merseyside Police "to tell them where he was and that he was wanted", not yet knowing his mother had died.
In a recording played to the court, Dempsey was heard to say: "I’ve been accused of stabbing someone tonight but I haven’t. It was in self-defence. There’s been an altercation. I’ve defended myself."
During this call, he said he had used a piece of glass and not a knife during the incident.
He also told the operator: "I was scared for my life. What do you want me to do?"
Read More on The Sun
Noughties X Factor pop legends tease tour plans with ‘big announcement’ promise
I got my council house for £37.5k now it’s worth £170k thanks to my love of DIY
Officers arrived at the scene and arrested Dempsey, who, after learning of his mother's death, told police he had found a knife by the back door of the pub after the initial altercation, the court heard.
Dempsey, who is defended by Timothy Cray KC, denies murder. The trial, before Judge Dennis Watson KC, continues.
Source: Read Full Article