‘I’ve stabbed him to f***’: Man admitted killing pub landlord because he barred him, court hears

Defendant told officers they 'don't need any evidence', then denied murder before judge

Christian Thornton was murdered outside the Hammer and Pincers in Widnes last August (David Dixon)

A man who killed a landlord because he had been barred from his pub told police “I've stabbed him to f***”, a court has heard.

Lee Abbott denies murdering landlord Christian Thornton outside the Hammer and Pincers pub in Widnes, Cheshire, last August.

At Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, David McLachlan QC, prosecuting, said Abbott had gone to the pub during the afternoon of 11 August armed with a large knife.

Mr Thornton was on the phone to police to report Abbott when he ran towards him, stabbing him 11 times in an attack which lasted just 21 seconds, the jury of nine women and three men was told.

The court heard in the weeks before Mr Thornton's death, the defendant had been barred from the Hammer and Pincers following an incident where he was with a group of people he described as being “boisterous”.

Mr McLachlan said: “He, no doubt, considered that an injustice as in his mind he had done nothing wrong.”

He said on 3 August, the day after Abbott was told he was barred, he returned to the pub to see if Mr Thornton would reconsider.

When Mr Thornton refused to change his mind, Abbott threatened to burn the pub down - prompting Mr Thornton to call police, Mr McLachlan said.

A few days later, the court heard, Mr Thornton raised the incident at a PubWatch group meeting and members voted to make a 12-month order banning Abbott from pubs in the area, which the defendant would be informed of by letter.

On the day of his death, Mr Thornton was in the pub playing darts when Abbott walked in at about 3:15pm, Mr McLachlan said.

He said the two men left the pub, with Mr Thornton heard telling Abbott he was barred, and there was a “heated exchange”.

Mr McLachlan said Mr Thornton rang police and Abbott walked away but then ran back towards the landlord.

Witness David Johnson told police: “There was no stopping him, he just ran like a mad man. He pulled his knife out and stabbed him three, two or three times, turned fell, got up and then fled.”

Abbott, of Rose Street, Widnes, left the scene but was arrested about an hour later when armed police attended his friend's house nearby, the court heard.

Mr McLachlan said Abbott told police “I attacked that Chris, yeah” and “you don't need any evidence, I stabbed him to f***”.

He told the jury Abbott had taken a knife to the scene because he intended to kill or inflict serious injury on Mr Thornton.

He said: “And what had Christian Thornton done? He had barred him from his pub and he had put forward a proposal, which was accepted, that he be barred from other pubs in the area.

“And what did Lee Abbott do? Well, he stabbed and he stabbed and he stabbed Christian Thornton to death in broad daylight on an early Sunday afternoon.”

A post-mortem showed Mr Thornton had 11 injuries to the body, including a stab injury to his heart.

In a police interview, Abbott admitted stabbing Mr Thornton and said: “I just saw red.”

Mr McLachlan said Abbott, who admits manslaughter, claims he did not have the intent to murder as he was heavily intoxicated and had diminished responsibility on the basis of an abnormality of mental functioning.

The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

Press Association