WITNESSES have spoken of the details of the road-rage knife attack which left a man bleeding to death in his BMW.

Alexander Layton is accused of murder after he plunged the large kitchen knife into James Stokoe’s leg and arm in a ‘cold, considered and brutal manner’.

Jurors heard eye witness reports of how Layton pulled the knife from his rucksack before attacking the car dealership worker in front of his four-yer-old son.

The 40-year-old bled to death in his BMW following the angry confrontation on Trenchard Avenue, Thornaby, after Layton walked out in front of the car after getting off a bus on May 15 last year.

Teesside Crown Court heard from Jade Farndale who said she saw Layton pull the knife out before walking towards the car and repeatedly stabbed Mr Stokoe.

The Northern Echo: James StokoeJames Stokoe

When asked how many times, she said: "Four times. It was fast just bam, bam, bam. We just carried on driving till Christ the King Church. My mam said we’ll have to go back and see if he’s alright. We did a u-turn in the road, by then the man with the knife had walked off."

She added: "As we got out there was a woman holding a towel against the injured man, around his lower abdomen. There was someone doing CPR. Then there was loads of people. The man was slumped in the car. They took him out of the car and laid him down

Angela Kidd, a nurse who carried out emergency CPR on Mr Stokoe, said: "I went to the silver car as Jordan had told me the male who had been stabbed was in there. I spoke to the male in the driver’s seat, explaining that I was a nurse and I was going to try and help him, but he gave no response.

"I could see there was a lot of blood so I took off my cardigan and tried to apply pressure to the hip area, where I believed the bleeding was coming from."

Earlier in the trial, Peter Makepeace, prosecuting, said in the early hours of the fatal day Layton had spent time reading conspiracy theories about 5G technology and David Icke’s website.

Just hours later he sent an email to Stockton Borough Council saying he was suicidal and desperate for money for food and hearing before sending a number of threatening text messages to a man he claimed owed him money.

The 34-year-old, of Shackleton Close, Thornaby, who is also charged with possession of a knife, denies murder.

The trial continues.

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