04 December 2023 , 18:28
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A note saying "it was me or him" was left behind as a knife victim''s blood pooled on the tiles of a bathroom after being stabbed repeatedly until he died, a jury has been told.
Joe Holland, 25, sustained 11 fatal stab wounds in the early hours of June 8, 2023, which his attacker James Preston, 21, has partly accepted responsibility for. However, Preston claims that he was acting in self-defence when he carried out the frenzied attack. Preston denied murder and manslaughter in a trial that began at Liverpool Crown Court earlier today.
Lead counsel for the prosecution, Mark Ford, KC said the two men were part of a group of friends who went out for a meal at Jumbo Chinese restaurant on Princess Drive, Dovecot, on Wednesday, June 7, before heading to the Deysbrook Pub, West Derby, for drinks, reports the ECHO.
Mr Ford said: "The meal was the last thing that one of those young men, Joseph Holland, or Joe Holland as he was known, would ever eat. That’s because within a few hours he would be stabbed to death by the defendant in this case, James Preston.
A plane flying a banner over Joseph Holland's funeral (Liverpool Echo)"The following day his body was discovered by police officers ,who found him lying in a pool of blood, locked in the bathroom of the home address of the defendant, James Preston."
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The jury heard the men had "had a fair bit to drink" and had also taken drugs during the night, as well as inhaling balloons of Nitrous Oxide. After leaving the pub, Preston, Mr Holland and a friend called Sean Rudd were invited back to Preston's parents' house on Huyton House Road, Fincham, to carry on the night, and arrived there shortly before midnight.
Joseph's funeral cortege in Rainford (Liverpool Echo)Other members of the group, including Preston's half-brother Darren Mulholland, 28, who was also close friends with Mr Holland, went drinking elsewhere.
Footage from a Ring doorbell camera and CCTV attached to the property showed Mr Rudd leaving Preston's house at 12.30am on June 8. Mr Ford told the jury: "What caused Mr Rudd to leave the address was that, without any warning, the defendant punched him to the side of the head and told him he was a rat. Mr Rudd tried to get away but was kicked by James Preston who continued to shout at him for no apparent reason he was able to understand.
"They were physically separated by Joe Holland and the moment passed. The incident was enough to cause Sean Rudd to leave."
Mr Ford said at around 12.45am, Mr Holland called Mr Mulholland, who told him he should leave the address. He told the jury: "Over the next hour or so Darren Mulholland made a number of attempts to speak to Joe, and James Preston, by telephone and he did so because he was concerned for Joe Holland's safety."
By 1.30am, however, both Preston and Mr Holland's phones were seemingly switched off. At 5.30am the Ring doorbell camera recorded Preston leaving the property carrying a holdall bag. He was taken to Liverpool Lime Street station by taxi, where he boarded the 6.04am train to London. However he changed at Runcorn station, boarding a service to Birmingham.
Mr Mulholland, the jury heard, awoke at around noon on Friday the 8th, and became increasingly concerned about Mr Holland. He eventually went round to Mr Holland's home, and was told he had not come home and had not turned up for work.