Man 'stabbed girlfriend to death' in row over kitten's name » Communities » 24dash.com

A man stabbed his partner to death after a disagreement about naming their new kitten exploded into a fatal argument, a court heard today.

Andrew Day, 23, stabbed 25-year-old Ellen Leach (pictured) twice in the back at the housing association flat they shared in The Truncalls, Luton, last May.

Day admits stabbing the mother-of-two but denies murder, Luton Crown Court heard today.

The court heard a disagreement about the couple's new kitten turned into an argument about Ellen, who was known as Becky, meeting up with an ex-boyfriend.

The court heard he was the father of one of her daughters, neither of whom lived with her.

As the argument reached its height Day, a keen knife collector, stabbed his partner twice in the back with his "favourite" Bowie knife, before tossing it out of the window and calling an ambulance.

When a paramedic arrived he fled the scene to a nearby Shell garage where he concocted a story of someone else stabbing Miss Leach.

After he was arrested by armed police, he admitted stabbing the 25-year-old, claiming his mind had "gone blank" after she slapped him.

The jury heard Day's defences were likely to be diminished responsibility and provocation, and that he denied intending to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to his girlfriend.

Lynn Tayton QC, prosecuting, told the court Miss Leach moved into a flat in The Truncalls in the Farley Hill area of Luton in 2007, and Andrew Day moved in with her later.

The court heard she would not allow Day to keep his collection of knives in the flat - only his "favourite" the Bowie knife, which was stored in a drawer in the divan bed the couple shared.

On the night of May 25 last year, Miss Leach was arguing with Day while on the phone to her younger sister Sally Tatum.

Miss Tayton said: "The argument had blown up from an issue of what they were going to call a new kitten."

She said it then moved on to a row about Miss Leach meeting up with her ex-boyfriend.

"It appears the defendant was jealous of this contact and thought that Becky was going to cheat on him," she said.

"At some stage it became almost a three-way argument, with Sally telling Becky what to say to the defendant.

"During the course of the argument Becky called the defendant names including calling him a 'spastic' and 'retarded'.

"Despite the things that she had said, Becky said to the defendant that she loved him."

The court heard Becky hung up the phone conversation with her sister, telling her she would call back, but never did.

Miss Tayton said Day took the knife from the bedroom and tucked it into the back of his trousers before stabbing Miss Leach twice.

He threw the knife out of the window while calling 999, asking them to send someone quickly, saying: "She is losing consciousness, she is dying."

A paramedic who arrived at the scene just after midnight found the young mother with two stab wounds to her back.

When asked what had happened, Day panicked and fled - claiming he had to go and find their cat that had escaped.

He later told a cashier at a nearby Shell garage he was covered in blood because his girlfriend had been stabbed by a girl in a pub.

The court was told Miss Leach was pronounced dead just after 2am on May 26. Day was later arrested by armed police.

He asked officers how Miss Leach was and said: "She slapped me, I had it in my hands, I stabbed her.

"I was going to take her head off but I couldn't do it, it hurt because she looked at me."

A post mortem examination revealed Miss Leach had two stab wounds to the back - one fatal wound which pierced her abdomen.

She also had a superficial wound to her neck where Day had run the knife across it, and a bruise to her face.

In police interview, Day said he had told Miss Leach he was leaving after the argument and had called his mother to tell her he was coming home the next day.

Miss Tayton said he told officers Miss Leach had hit him hard in the face and he "lost the plot".

The court heard a psychiatrist later diagnosed Day with Intermittent Explosive Disorder, explaining his violent action, but Miss Tayton said the Crown disagreed he was suffering from this.

She said: "He intended to killed her. Nothing that happened that evening amounts to provocation in the legal sense and it's the Crown's case that the defendant is not suffering from Intermittent Explosive Disorder.

"He is a man with a temper and a predilection for knives and on May 26,
2008 those factors came together and led to the death of Miss Leach."

Miss Leach's younger sister Sally Tatum today told the court she spoke to her sister every day, either on the phone, via text message or on the internet.

She said she had been on the phone to Miss Leach late on the night of May 25, planning a birthday night out, when the couple started arguing.

|Miss Leach had sent her a photo of a dress she planned to wear but told
her Day was not happy about her wearing it.

Miss Tatum said: "First of all he was saying that he didn't want her to wear a dress. He called her a slag, which he had never done before.

"He was just really moody with her."

Miss Tatum said the couple then argued about Miss Leach wanting to meet her ex-boyfriend.

"Then they started arguing about something else.

"It was not raised voices, I can't describe it, they were talking to each other."

She said Day threatened to stab the cat but told the court she had heard him make similar threats on previous occasions and always said it as a joke.

Day gave her sister the "silent treatment" so she advised Miss Leach to tell him she loved him as that would break the silence, but she heard him reply: "That's got nothing to do with it."

Miss Tatum said his response upset Miss Leach and she told her sister she would call her back but she did not hear from her again.