Woman stabbed in head in Birmingham kitchen row, court hears

A woman was stabbed by her housemate multiple times in her head and neck, leaving so much blood they slipped on it, a court has heard.

Shannon Stanley, 27, died at the property she shared with defendant Pablo Hoad and his girlfriend in Small Heath, Birmingham.

Their friend Waqar Ali told jurors how he tried but failed to stop the attack in the kitchen in May this year.

Mr Hoad, 27, denies murder in a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

Jurors were told a group - Mr Hoad, Mr Ali, Ms Stanley, Mr Hoad's girlfriend Maz Underwood and a man called Chris - had gathered at the property on Mount Pleasant on the evening of 9 May, but a dispute erupted between some of them.

Mr Hoad was angry at the presence of Chris whom he believed was "a snitch" and wanted him to leave his home, Mr Ali said.

The witness explained this upset Ms Stanley who told Chris to leave and afterwards confronted Mr Hoad about the issue.

The pair argued before Ms Stanley - originally from Swindon in Wiltshire - threatened to get a meat cleaver and "slice everybody up", Mr Ali told the court.

He said Ms Stanley spoke to him about her frustration before Mr Hoad appeared near to her and she screamed "move".

Mr Hoad then grabbed her by her neck and pushed her into the kitchen and "slammed her on the work top", according to Mr Ali's testimony.

"After 30 seconds I saw a knife in his hand.... he tried slashing her neck first," Mr Ali said.

"When I saw him stabbing her by the head, I grabbed his arm with the knife and said 'get off her'."

Mr Ali said Mr Hoad tried stabbing her five times on the top of her head and neck and saw blood dripping from her which went on the floor.

Mr Hoad continued his attack, said Mr Ali, who tried once more to intervene but they all slipped on the blood and fell to the floor as Mr Ali said "that's enough".

He then saw Ms Stanley, he said, covered in blood from top to bottom and running to her room.

He told the court he then left the flat with Mr Hoad who was also covered in blood and took three knives and a meat cleaver with him.

The court heard they went to Mr Ali's home in Small Heath, from where Mr Hoad called an ambulance.

Under cross examination by Hoad's defence, Mr Ali said he had given an honest account of what had happened, but later admitted giving different information in his statements to police because he was worried he may too be arrested for murder.

He said he did not go straight to police after the stabbing because he was panicking, but denied he was deliberately trying to mislead officers.

He disagreed Ms Stanley was in possession of a knife at the time of the stabbing and threatened to stab Mr Hoad and a hand injury he sustained was as a result of him trying to grab the weapon.

When pressed by the defence about the number of times Ms Stanley was stabbed, Mr Ali said although he had said in court on Friday it was five times, the figure of three given in his statement to police in the summer was the correct number.

The trial continues.

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