A mother-of-three from Maidstone has told of the last moments of her partner's life as she tried to shield him from an alleged knifeman.

Charlotte Muddiman - who had given birth just weeks earlier - tried to protect her lover as he was being attacked in a neighbour's house, a court heard.

The 6ft 1inch mum broke down in the witness box as she told how she only realised Jamie Simmons had been fatally wounded - after she had pulled the father of her children behind her to protect him.

She told the jury: "I saw a red patch growing on Jamie's chest. I told him he had been stabbed and we had to get out of here."

Ms Muddiman said that after leaving the flat she lifted up her fiance's shirt and used her hand to try to stem the blood flow.

Outside she shouted to a neighbour for help as Mr Simmons told her he was scared - and 15 minutes he lay dead.

As the man accused of his murder, Kieran Nicholson was being led away by police he shouted to her: "I didn't do it."

Ms Muddiman said: "I shouted: 'Yes you did. You had the knife in your hand...you killed him'."

Earlier she had told the jury at Maidstone Crown Court she had been talking with neighbour Tyra Cooper in a nearby flat hoping to buy some clothes.

Jamie - who was friends with Nicholson - had been together "chatting happily about school days".

Nicholson - who had an on-off relationship with Ms Cooper had arrived with friend Jack McCann and his girlfriend Charlotte Halford in a silver car.

She added: "We were all happy and having a laugh. It was just chit-chat as they (Nicholson and Mr Simmons) were reminiscing about their school days and who had been the cleverer one."

It was then that Mr Simmons said he was going inside their flat to "sort out the kids."

Mr McCann then said that Mr Simmons should take care of the children as he would "take care of your missus".

"Kieran was loud and being cocky about it. Jamie was walking towards our flat when he stopped because of what Jack had said to him."

Jamie said: "How dare you talk about my missus like that? He punched him in the face and Jack hit him back."

It was then I tried to stop the fight." Ms Muddiman claimed that McCann had picked up a "PAW Patrol" kiddies scooter and went towards her lover.

"I said: "No you don't and Tyra took it away."

She claimed MCann then went inside Ms Cooper's flat "to get something to hurt Jamie with."

"I panicked and followed him inside and spun him round and put my arm across him and pinned him against the (kitchen) wall.

"I was making sure that he didn't have anything in his hand."

She told how she then shielded her lover as Nicholson "came running" and grabbed a knife from a kitchen drawer.

Ms Muddiman then described to the jury how she tried to keep her partner and Nicholson apart.

'I didn't know Jamie had been stabbed until I saw a red patch growing on his shirt...'

"I pulled Jamie behind me and Kieron was in front of me with the knife. He just started making stabbing motions towards Jamie.

"He was really going for Jamie with the force of someone throwing a punch, " she claimed.

After demonstrating what happened she added: "He did this five times. He was going towards Jamie and I put my arms out to protect him. I was trying to shield him."

She added: "As I did, I felt a sting in my fingers (from the knife). I didn't know Jamie had been stabbed until I saw a red patch growing on his shirt.

"I don't think Jamie had realised that he had been stabbed until he saw the blood and then he said: 'He's stabbed me..he's stabbed me. Kieran has stabbed me', " she claimed.

She told the jury that as she tried to tend the wound Mr Simmons told her: 'I'm alright' but he weren't."

Outside the flat she shouted to a neighbour for help and asked for a blanket to be put around him.

She revealed she was then told that Nicholson, 29, of Vicarage Lane, East Farleigh, had "jumped through a window" but was pursued by another neighbour.

Ms Muddiman said she didn't realise she had been injured until later that night "as I washed Jamie's blood from me."

Under cross-examination from Cairns Nelson QC, she denied asking if Jack had stabbed her partner.

"That did not happen. Kieron stabbed Jamie. Jack didn't stab him."

She agreed that her fiance may have over-reacted to the insult "but he was very protective of me."

But she denied "egging" on her partner in the fight with Mr McCann but told the jury she was surprised when told that Mr Simmons had taken cocaine that day.

Nicholson denies murder and the trial is expected to last another month.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone