A DEIGHTON man was stabbed 11 times by a jealous and possessive man.

Fartown man Paul Kelly, 31, is alleged to have knifed Kim Driver to death because of an irrational belief that the 52-year-old wanted a relationship with his former girlfriend.

At the start of his murder trial at Bradford Crown Court, the jury was told that Mr Driver, who had a history of mental health problems and was a former drug addict and alcoholic, lived a “rather sad existence” at his ground floor flat in Crawthorne Crescent.

But Mr Driver is said to have lived a fantasy life in which he imagined himself in love with any woman prepared to talk to him.

Prosecutor Rodney Jameson QC said Kelly’s former girlfriend Paula Nugent had acted as a carer and driver for Mr Driver and she became his fantasy girlfriend.

“So far as Paula Nugent is concerned it seems that she was barely aware of his feelings at all,” said Mr Jameson.

“However, the defendant did become aware that Kim Driver had become attracted to Paula Nugent and was apparently claiming to have had some kind of sexual encounter with her.”

Mr Jameson said a more rational man would have ignored the claim, but he alleged that because of Kelly’s jealousy and possessiveness he killed Mr Driver.

“As you can see this is rather a tragic case because this was the sort of nonsense that Kim Driver came up with pretty regularly and it seems people ignored it for the nonsense that it was,” said Mr Jameson.

“The tragedy of this case is that this man didn’t.”