Fatal stabbing on busy Wirral street (From Wirral Globe)

Fatal stabbing on busy Wirral street

8:56am Tuesday 10th July 2012 in News

A Wirral man deliberately crashed his car into another man's vehicle and then got out and stabbed him twice in the back causing fatal injuries, it was alleged on Monday.

The horrific incident took place on a busy street in Bebington a court heard.

Steven Branscombe, of Boswell Street, Birkenhead, admits killing 42-year-old Marc Clarke but denies murder, said John McDermott, QC, prosecuting.

Opening the prosecution case he told a jury at Liverpool Crown Court the incident happened on the afternoon of January 27 this year.

"It was a shocking incident in a public place," he said.

Members of the public rushed to the victim's aid but the knife wounds were too severe to survive.

One wound had penetrated to a depth of eight inches touching one of his vertebrae and his spleen and pancreas were cut causing extensive bleeding. The cause of death was loss of blood, said Mr McDermott.

"Branscombe told police he lived in fear of Mr Clarke and his friends for years after he fell out with him ten years or so before over some drugs he had bought from Mr Clarke.

"There had been a number of incidents of violence in the intervening years directed at him by Mr Clarke's associates, or so he believed, although there had only been two face-to-face encounters between Branscombe and Mr Clarke.

"He said he had taken to carrying a knife with him and whenever he saw Mr Clarke he became nervous and his heart would race, and thus the ground was laid for what happened that Friday afternoon," said Mr McDermott.

As he drove along Teehay Road, he saw Mr Clarke standing by his Mercedes and "snapped when he saw him."

He deliberately drove his car into the Mercedes, reversed and then stopped. He then took the knife he was in the habit of carrying in the car and aggressively hurried around the car towards Mr Clarke.

Mr Clarke tried to move away and witnesses saw Branscombe appear to punch him a number of times and then got back into his car and drove off leaving his victim fatally wounded on the pavement.

Mr Clarke managed to get half in and half out his passenger seat but was clearly seriously injured, said Mr McDermott.

The case continues.