Murder accused 'just meant to give man a kicking'
Family handoutA crack cocaine addict accused of murdering a man in a drugs feud told jurors he just meant to give him a "kicking".
Prosecutors said Lewis Bell, 26, was chased down like prey and fatally stabbed in the back in September in Stockton.
Liam Matthews, 26, Sean McLeod, 23, and Ashton White, who can now be named after turning 18, all deny murder and have blamed each other for stabbing Mr Bell.
Mr Matthews told Teesside Crown Court he "chopped" Mr Bell, who he classed as a friend, three times with a chisel before stamping on him.
Jurors have heard the case revolved around a crack cocaine den on Norton Road in Stockton, whose management suspected Mr Bell of robbing other visitors.
On the night of 18 September, Mr Bell was chased from the drugs den and attacked on a residential street, his death caused by a 5in (12.5cm) stab wound to his back which penetrated his lung, causing catastrophic blood loss.
GoogleMr Matthews said he had been released from HMP Holme House at about 10:00 BST on 18 September, after serving 11 months.
He met with probation and attended an appointment at a job centre before going to a pub and then to the crack house, he told jurors.
Mr Matthews said he had £130 in his savings and a £96 prison release grant which he used to buy drugs, adding he spent the rest of the day taking crack cocaine at the den.
While there, someone told him a "ginger lad had been robbing customers", the court heard.
Mr Matthews, of no fixed abode, said he had known Mr Bell for about 10 years after they met at a school for children with "behavioural problems" and the pair were friends.
He said he was upstairs taking drugs when he heard a "commotion" from outside, looking out to see his two co-accused and Mr Bell "throwing punches".
Mr Matthews said he grabbed a chisel from a kitchen cupboard and ran out "just to help" Mr White and Mr McLeod.
Mr Bell ran and he gave chase.
When asked why he pursued Mr Bell by his barrister John Elvidge KC, Mr Matthews said: "For the drugs."
"What did you think was going to happen?" Mr Elvidge asked.
Mr Matthews replied: "He was just going to get a kicking."
He said he "chopped" Mr Bell three times with the chisel, hitting him in the legs, but did not realise he had been stabbed.
Mr Matthews admitted he then stamped on Mr Bell, possibly in the chest area.
He then ran back to the crack house and grabbed weapons, including a knife, which he dumped in a wheelie bin.
'Hadn't done anything'
Mr Matthews, who told jurors he first started using cannabis at the age of 12 before becoming a crack cocaine addict when he was 15, then went to another drugs den to take more crack cocaine, the court heard.
He said he was "offered money to take the charge" by somebody but declined.
Mr Matthews was arrested the following day and told police he had not been one of the trio chasing Mr Bell.
He admitted to jurors that was a lie, adding he was "scared" because he had been involved in the death of one of his "mates".
Peter Moulson KC, representing Mr White, asked Mr Matthews why he had been violent towards Mr Bell.
"To be honest he hadn't done [anything] to me," Mr Matthews said. "I couldn't tell you, mate."
Mr Matthews said he armed himself with the chisel because he knew Mr Bell was a "violent guy" and sometimes carried weapons.
A fourth man, Macauley Wright, 26, of Humewood Grove in Stockton, has admitted assisting an offender.
The trial continues.