Picture of boyfriend ‘stabbed through the heart and sacrificed by his partner hours before fatal stabbing’
Court hears that woman didn't call an ambulance and lied to concerned neighbours
A PICTURE of a 26-year-old man taken hours before he was allegedly stabbed through the heart with a steak knife and "sacrificed" has emerged.
Emma-Jayne Magson killed James Knight following a drunken row then "calmly" waited 45 minutes to call an ambulance, Leicester Crown Court has heard.
Michael Evans QC, prosecuting said: "We say, she'd opened the door to him armed with a kitchen knife and stabbed him through the chest, and after she'd done that she literally sacrificed him."
Mr Knight's dying last breaths could be heard on a "chilling" 999 call she made 45 minutes later, in which Magson said he had "collapsed" after a night out, without mentioning the knife wound, the court heard.
When told an ambulance might be delayed, Magson, 23, allegedly replied: "No, that's fine, don't worry about it."
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The prosecution claims Magson stabbed her 26 year-old boyfriend on the doorstep of her home in Newfoundpool, Leicester, in the early hours of Sunday, March 27.
She has denied charges of murder, claiming she acted in self defence.
But Mr Evans told the jury of six men and six women that Magson plunged a steak knife 11.5 centimetres deep into Mr Knight's chest in "anger", and not to protect herself.
He claimed that after Knight collapsed in the street outside Magson's home, he took off his bloodstained T-shirt and told her "My heart is bleeding."
Magson took the T-shirt indoors then went back outside to allegedly downplay the seriousness of his injury by lying to neighbours, including the victim's brother, Kevin Knight, who lived nearby.
She told them he was drunk and had been fighting with bouncers, the court heard.
Mr Evans said Knight and Magson had been in a relationship for some time and it was "volatile on both sides".
The couple had met up earlier in the evening in the city centre and had got a taxi to Magson's home at about 12.30am.
"As soon as they got into the cab they began arguing," said Mr Evans.
He said the taxi driver eventually asked them to leave "when James Knight was sitting on one side of the seat and the defendant was lying down on the other side, kicking him".
When they got out of the taxi CCTV cameras reportedly captured Knight pushing Magson "aggressively" to the floor.
Magson got up and they continued walking to her house, at one point holding hands.
A neighbour later heard banging on Magson's door, with Knight asking her to let him in and her responding: "I'm not letting you in after last time", the court heard.
Knight allegedly then phoned a friend saying Magson was "kicking off".
Mr Evans said: "This was to be an under-statement. Those were the last words anyone, other than the defendant, heard him say before he was stabbed."
The jury was told that after being stabbed, Knight slipped into unconsciousness. As he lay fatally wounded in the street, two residents and his brother came out to help him.
Magson "deceived them into believing he wasn't seriously injured, saying 'he's on coke, he's on drugs, he doesn't need help,'" said Mr Evans.
"Her calmness caused even his own brother to be deceived that he didn't need help."
Magson allegedly stopped a helper from turning him over on the pavement, which would have revealed his chest wound.
Knight's brother helped carry the alleged victim into Magson's home.
Mr Evans said: "What his brother, Kevin, didn't realise was that whilst carrying him, he was dying.
"The brother was ushered out and she shut the door, leaving just him and her alone."
He said that "for many minutes, nothing happened - Magson went upstairs to change, leaving him where he had been left by his brother."
It was the night the clocks went forward an hour.
Mr Evans said: "Eventually after 3am she called for an ambulance.
"She's calm, she's lying and there's no distress.
"In the background, you can hear the last breaths of Mr Knight; she was a matter of feet away from him."
He said that minutes later, Mr Knight was dead. "It was only then she moves into the street screaming 'He's dead'.
"It's only then his brother, nearby, realises how serious it is.
"It was 45 minutes after he carried his brother into the apparent safety of his girlfriend's house.
"She has told continuous lies, blaming his injuries on bouncers."
Magson told detectives called to the scene they had not been out together and that Knight had turned up at her house alone and collapsed outside her home, where she had found him, the court heard.
Mr Evans said: "It was only when she realised she had no option that she admits she stabbed him."
The trial continues.
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