The man whose insult triggered a row which ended with a dad-of-three being stabbed to death told a murder jury: “I was just joking!”

Jack McCann had offered to “take care” of victim Jamie Simmons’ partner, Charlotte Muddiman, after they met up one evening.

The quip led to an argument and the knifing outside Wells House in Cambridge Crescent, Shepway in May.

But Mr McCann today told Maidstone Crown Court that he was then attacked by both Mr Simmons and his partner.

Kieran Nicholson, 29, of Vicarage Lane, East Farleigh, who has denied murder, is accused of carrying out the fatal attack.

Mr McCann, who gave his evidence from behind screens, said he had known Mr Simmons for 10 years since school “although we weren’t best friends”.

Earlier that day he had been with his girlfriend, Charlotte Halford, in Teston when a window of her car was smashed with a brick. “After that we went to a friend’s place in Shepway where I saw Jamie’s girlfriend sitting on some bars near a grass area.

“When I was talking to the group I could feel tension as they had been drinking. Jamie got up to say he was going to check on the kids.

“ He said ‘I am leaving Charlotte out here with you’ and I said ‘she will be alright with me’. I didn’t mean nothing by it. Jamie just took it the wrong way.

“Jamie turned round and said ‘What did you ******* say?’ He was coming at me. I thought it was just banter at first but then I got punched in the face by Jamie.

“I put my hands up to cover up. I was then hit in the back of the head and Charlotte said ‘Don’t worry about him...worry about me’. I was dazed.”

He said he then backed off because he wanted to get away and went into the flat.

Mr McCann told the jury he tried to apologise. “I said ‘Sorry it’s a misunderstanding’. Jamie wanted to have a fight. He was angry. I didn’t have a chance to retaliate. I didn’t know what was going on.”

He said he went back outside “to shake hands as I thought it had been dealt with”.

“Me and Jamie was just talking. I was apologising and he took things the wrong way.

“That was when I got the headbutt. I put my hands down and Jamie just butted me. My nose was broken and there was blood and my eyes were watering. Blood was just pouring out.

“I tried to get back indoors. Jamie was trying to come back at me again. I picked up a (child’s) scooter from the front doorstep. People then told me to put down which I did and then they shut the door.”

More from Jamie Simmons' murder trial

• Murder trial hears partner of stab victim in Shepway, near Maidstone, tried to shield him from his alleged killer

• Victim of stabbing in Shepway, near Maidstone, identified his killer in the moments before he died, it is alleged

• Family pay tribute to 'brilliant dad' Jamie Simmons who was fatally stabbed in Cambridge Crescent, Maidstone

He then went into the kitchen to wash his face.

He added: “I wanted to try and wash my face and see what damage had been done to my face.

“I could hear a commotion. There was bag of ice, because they had been drinking, in the sink and I started washing my face.

“All I could hear was the door banging and people saying 'Go away, go away, get out of the flat'. There was shouting. I felt dazed.

“I thought it was over and done with. I could feel a group of people coming in and the next thing I knew was I was getting hit. I was getting jabs, jabs, jabs to the back of my head. I just covered myself up. I thought I was going down. My back was hurting."

He said he didn’t see anyone in the kitchen but as he came out he saw a woman who he thought was a neighbour.

"She was just standing there. She asked me if I was alright."

As he left, he said he saw a knife on the kitchen floor “which was bent up".

Mr McCann added he then went into the living room but was aware of a commotion outside the flat.

He claimed the neighbour told him someone had been stabbed and asked if he had been stabbed.

'I then left out of the window after someone said about a stabbing - I wanted none of that...'

“I said 'I don’t think so' and so she lifted my shirt to check as my back was hurting.

“I didn’t see no knife (sic) there were just punches and headbutts. I then left out of the window after someone said about a stabbing - I wanted none of that.”

He said he then went to the home of his mother.

Mr McCann said he didn’t realise his friend had been stabbed until he began receiving messages while he was at his mother’s home.

“I thought it was just hearsay and then I was arrested.”

He told the jury: “When I saw Jamie I didn’t see no injuries.”

Shown a graphic of the injuries sustained by the victim, he was asked if he could explain how they happened.

“I don’t know mate. I thought he was fine. I thought it was just me who got beat up. I don’t know nothing about the injuries. I don’t know nothing.”

The trial continues.

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