'Killed with a single stab wound' - Caleb White trial
by
Keith Hunt
A teenager was wound up with jealousy
and anger when he overreacted and knifed a man to death, a court
heard.
Caleb White stabbed Tom Crittenden
(pictured left) once in the chest with a large knife he took
from a block in the kitchen of his Maidstone home, it was
alleged.
The blade penetrated 10cm, piercing
21-year-old Mr Crittenden’s lung and heart, and he died soon
afterwards.
Mr Saxby said White, then 19, and the
victim did not know each other but had friends in common.
The main link was Julie Matthews, who
was best friends with White’s girlfriend Danielle Brown.
Miss Matthews had been in a
relationship with Mr Crittenden’s best friend Billy Swift, but by
early September last year she considered the relationship to be
over.
On the evening of September 24, White
was uneasy about his "girl" Miss Brown, the mother of his child,
being out in the town with Miss Matthews.
"Specifically, we say that by then the
defendant had wound himself up - with feelings of jealousy and
anger - so that he totally overreacted to the events which
unfolded," said Mr Saxby.
Mr Crittenden called Mr Swift and told
him Shane Price was taking Miss Matthews and Miss Brown back to
White’s flat at Dublin House in Cornwall Close, Shepway.
Mr Swift asked his father Anthony to
take him there in his works van. Mr Crittenden joined them. Mr
Swift later admitted he was going there to give Mr Price a
"slap".
When they arrived, White and Mr Price
were outside and Miss Matthews and Miss Brown were in the
doorway.
White ran back into the flats chased
by Mr Crittenden. Miss Matthews told Mr Crittenden to stop and he
did so.
White, who is 5ft 11in tall, went to
his kitchen and grabbed the knife. He saw 6ft 3in tall Mr
Crittenden walking towards him.
"He ran up to him and stabbed him in
the chest," said the prosecutor. "He gave Tom Crittenden no
warning. Tom Crittenden was posing no real threat to him or to
anyone for that matter."
Mr Crittenden and Mr Swift went back
to the van. The father drove them to his home, where Mr Crittenden
collapsed and died.
White, now 20, denies murder. The
trial continues.
23/04/12
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