The jury in the trial of two men accused of murdering Honley man Darren Moorhouse have been sent out to begin their deliberations.
The Honourable Mr Justice Soole completed his summing up of the case earlier today (MON) before sending the jury out to consider their verdicts.
Bradford Crown Court has heard during the trial that 26-year-old Dale Dwyer, of Alma Street, Buxton, inflicted the fatal stab wound to the heart which killed Mr Moorhouse during a violent disturbance at a property in Athol Close, Ovenden, Halifax, in January.
Dwyer and his co-accused 34-year-old Christopher Churchill, of Athol Close, have both denied the murder charge.
The jury has heard that the incident began when Churchill, who had come to flat to collect his belongings and two televisons, became involved in a fight over one of the TVs with his former partner Kate Longshaw.
Churchill claimed that Mr Moorhouse, 49, was “in a rage” and kicked him in the head during the incident.
He said he got the knife, which he later handed over to Dwyer, to get Mr Moorhouse to stop attacking them.
As the incident continued in the ground floor foyer of the building Mr Moorhouse was stabbed in the heart during a further confrontation with Dwyer.
Dwyer claimed he had only “lashed out” when an angry Mr Moorhouse tried to hit him again on the head with a telescope.
He said he didn’t realise he had stabbed Mr Moorhouse and thought he had punched him in the face.
The jury heard that the two men left the premises, but went back to the injured Mr Moorhouse, who had collapsed on a landing, and attempted CPR and mouth-to-mouth before paramedics arrived.
In his opening to the jury at the start of the trial prosecutor Dafydd Enoch QC said the case was a classic illustration of how, if you introduce a knife into a fight situation, it will always end in tragedy.
Mr Enoch said that Churchill had armed himself with the knife during the incident and he had then handed it on to Dwyer.
“During the course of the fight they both punched and bit Mr Moorhouse. It was two onto one throughout,” alleged Mr Enoch.
The jury heard how after the stabbing Mr Moorhouse managed to reach a first floor landing before collapsing, but Churchill is then alleged to have kicked him in the head as he lay dying on the floor.
“The defendants say they were defending themselves from him but they were not,” alleged Mr Enoch.
The trial continues.
