Man sobbed 'this isn't real' after stabbing pal to death and leaving eerie note

12 December 2023 , 09:54

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Joe Holland, 25, was stabbed to death (Image: Liverpool Echo)

A man who stabbed his friend to death following a ketamine and alcohol fuelled night out told a court he cried and said "this isn't real" after realising his pal was dead.

James Preston, 21, accepts inflicting the wounds that killed 25-year-old Joe Holland in the early hours of June 8 this year. However, he claims he was acting in self-defence. He is standing trial at Liverpool Crown Court, having pleaded not guilty to murder and an alternative count of manslaughter.

The jury of seven men and five women has heard Mr Holland sustained two deep stab wounds to the left side of his chest which penetrated his heart, lung and liver as well as nine other less serious wounds. Preston began giving evidence in his own defence on Monday, appearing in the witness box in a white shirt and tie, black trousers and with his hair held back in a headband.

He told the jury he had invited Mr Holland and a third man, Sean Ruud, back to his mum's address in Fincham, Liverpool, to "carry on the night". The three had been part of a larger group that went for a meal at Jumbo Chinese Restaurant in Dovecot and then for drinks at the Deysbrook Pub, West Derby, on June 7.

James Preston at a Chinese buffet hours before stabbing Mr Holland (Merseyside Police)

However, things turned ugly after midnight, when there was an "altercation" between Preston and Mr Ruud which resulted in Mr Ruud leaving the address at 12.30pm. Prompted by Nick Johnson KC, defending, Preston said he accused Mr Ruud of spilling a can of beer in the living room and was "fed up" with how loud he was playing music on the TV, reports the Liverpool Echo.

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He described what ensued as a "fight", and the two were separated by Mr Holland, before Mr Ruud left. Preston said Mr Holland said, "that was mad that, I was meant to be dropping him off in a taxi". The defendant agreed there was "no bad feeling or aggression" between him and Mr Holland at that stage.

Preston said he then had several phone calls with his half-brother, Darren Mulholland, who was close friends with Mr Holland and Mr Ruud. He had also been with the group to the restaurant and pub. The defendant said Mr Holland then asked to use his phone to speak to Mr Mulholland himself before handing him back the phone. He said his brother told him: "Watch what happens if you've hit Ruud."

Footage showing the window into a bathroom where Mr Holland's body was found (Liverpool Echo)

He said Mr Holland then continued his phone call with Mr Mulholland, and Preston turned away to face the living room - with the pair sitting at a breakfast bar in the kitchen. He said: "I couldn't hear what they were talking about. Then I just heard Joe saying 'what should I do here, lad?'"

Preston said after that comment, there was around a minute and a half of silence. When asked what happened next, he said: "[Mr Holland] started coming out with 'no-one even likes ya, who do you think you are hitting Ruud? Do you think you're hard hitting Ruud?' Winding himself up. It was strange the way he started coming out with things like out the blue."

Preston told the jury he "didn't know what to say" so walked into the living room, which is connected to the kitchen via a doorway, followed by Mr Holland. Mr Johnson asked: "Did there come a stage where there was physical contact between the two of you?"

Preston replied: "As I turned around to say something to him he punched me to both sides of the head. Before I could say anything." Preston said in response he grabbed onto Mr Holland's t-shirt with both hands and put his head between his arms to block the punches, a position he was asked to demonstrate to the jury from the witness box.

The note left in a locked bathroom next to the dead body (Merseyide Police)

The jury heard the two men grappled and ended up in the kitchen, where Preston said he heard Mr Holland's t-shirt rip. He said Mr Holland responded: "Lad, let go you cheeky c***". Preston said that as he made the comment, Mr Holland "reached to the side towards the sink", telling the jury: "I just knew what he was going for".

He said: "I just stepped in, tried to get the knife off him." Preston said he saw the knife in Mr Holland's hand, but "couldn't be sure" if it was the left or the right. He told the jury: "As he turned around I've said 'woah lad what you doing?' The point of the knife cut my hand, so I have pulled my hand back. He said 'come here', even though I was still close."

Mr Johnson asked: "At this point what did you think was about to happen?" Preston replied: "That I was going to be stabbed." He told the jury he reacted by grabbing onto Mr Holland's arm with both hands, and "started to rag his arm backwards and forwards as hard as I could, just an adrenaline rush".

Preston said in the midst of the struggle Mr Holland dropped the knife on the kitchen floor, at which point he took the opportunity to grab it. He told the jury: "I bent down and picked it up by the handle. On my way back up I felt him pull on the bladed side of the knife, trying to pull it back off me. As he's grabbed my arm I've pulled my arm back and then swung it back towards him."

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Mr Johnson asked: "Was the knife pointing towards him at that stage?". Preston said it was. He described Mr Holland falling backwards against a kitchen cupboard, and sliding down to the floor. He said: "When he slided onto his side I saw his eyes roll to the back of his head and I knew he was dead."

Police on Huyton House Road, Huyton, Merseyside, on June 8 (Liverpool Echo)

Preston said in the moments after killing Mr Holland, he realised he had missed calls from Mr Mulholland. He said his half-brother, possibly prompted by the panic in his voice, responded: "Have you killed Joe?" Preston said he told Mr Mulholland that Mr Holland had left in a taxi. Mr Johnson asked: "At this stage, a man was dead, why didn't you phone the police?"

Preston replied: "Don't know. Just panicking. And in shock. I couldn't believe what happened." He added: "At first I was just walking up and down the kitchen, saying this isn't real. I started to cry. I think that's why [Mr Mulholland] said what he said, the tone in my voice. It was a mad accusation to make."

Mr Johnson suggested there may have been more blood in the kitchen at that time than when police arrived later that afternoon. Preston said: "Yeah, there was blood everywhere....I turned around and started to clean up. Started from the living room, got a towel. I think I got in the shower though first."

Mr Johnson asked why he left a note next to Mr Holland's body saying "It was me or him" and "I'm sorry but I had no choice". Preston said that he left it for "whoever found him" and he meant "that I could have died". The jury heard Preston took a taxi to Lime Street Station at around 5.30am, boarding a train to London. When asked why he left, he said: "Because I was scared...What Joe's family and friends are capable of doing."

Mr Johnson asked why he handed himself into police in Ashford, Kent, on June 10. Preston said he knew his mum was due home from a holiday in Egypt at 10pm that day and would have walked into the crime scene. Mr Johnson asked: "Was Joe bigger than you?" Preston said: "He was yeah." Mr Jonson said: "Did you really fear for your life?". Preston replied: "I did yeah."

The trial continues.

Jonathan Humphries