A MAN who stabbed his ex-wife to death as she prepared to hold a divorce party was urged to leave the neighbourhood moments before she was killed, a court heard.

The best friend of 63- year-old Brian Jones pleaded with him to go home before the celebration started at the house next door in Marske, east Cleveland, last November.

Despite getting a council flat after the divorce, bodybuilder Mr Jones spent most of his time staying with Brian Fowle at his three-bedroomed house in Church Close.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Mr Jones stayed at the house next door to his former marital home so he could still be close to his son and former wife, Katrina, 34.

The court heard that Mr Jones, a retired seafood seller and doorman, was becoming increasingly agitated by his former wife’s plans to celebrate the end of their marriage.

Mr Fowle, 75, gave his evidence via a video-link, and was yesterday asked what kind of mood Mr Jones was in that day, November 27.

“Black,” he said. “He was upset, uptight and agitated.

. . I asked him if he would go home, and he said he would.”

The court heard that Mr Jones did not go to his council flat half-a-mile away, but went next-door and stabbed his former partner 12 times with an eight-inch kitchen knife.

In a statement and in interviews with psychiatrists, he said he snapped after seeing a photograph of himself in the house, with “pin the tail on the ex” written beside it.

Mr Fowle told the court that he initially thought Mr Jones had gone home to his flat in Thrushwood Crescent, but then realised his car was still parked outside.

He said his friend briefly came back into his home, and said: “He was crying and explained that Katrina had been hurt and I noticed that he had blood over his chin.”

Mr Jones had already called 999, pleading with the operator to quickly send emergency crews to save his former wife’s life, apologising, and saying: “I love her to bits.”

Earlier, the court heard from another neighbour, Brian Snaith, who said as he was being led away by police, Mr Jones shouted: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it.”

Mr Jones accepts causing the injuries which killed his ex-wife, but denies murder, claiming he was provoked and suffering from an abnormality of mind at the time.

Police surgeon, Dr Alistair Irvine, who examined him after his arrest, said he saw no sign of mental illness. He said: “His level of distress was a reactive response to the situation he found himself in.”

The case will continue on Monday.