1:00pm Wednesday 11th November 2009
A MILKING Bank man dumped by the woman he loved just two days after their wedding has told a jury he could not recall stabbing her with a large carving knife before savagely killing her new boyfriend.
“I honestly and genuinely can’t remember,” stressed former prison officer David Slater as he accepted it would have taken considerable force to plunge the knife up to the hilt into the chest of 50-year-old Kenneth Westwood.
He told the six-man and six woman jury: “I cannot remember the actual stabbing. I did not intend to hurt or stab anyone. I just wanted Alison to talk to me.”
Alison Edwards left 56-year-old Slater after hardly talking to him following their wedding and reception at a Sedgley pub where they had argued, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
She moved in with Mr Westwood in Monument Lane, Sedgley, just hours later and, alleges the prosecution, Slater went out on a “mission of vengeance” after telling a close friend he was going to kill them both.
But Slater, who worked at the Cotwall End Nature Reserve and as a part-time driver for a security firm, maintained he had not wish them dead.
“I am certain I said I wished I was dead and I hoped they were all right,” he added. “I went to Monument Lane just to talk because I hoped Alison would come back to me.”
Slater, of Sudeley Gardens, said he needed to know where he stood after his wife walked out because he could not go on with his life until the situation had been made clear.
“I needed to get things right in my head,” he said as he went on to describe how he had taken the knife upstairs at his home to cut up her wedding dress after using scissors to slice all their wedding photographs.
“As I picked up her wedding dress, I thought ‘What if she is just playing games again’,” said Slater. “I completely forgot the knife was in my pocket.”
He said that when he went to Mr Westwood’s home to talk to Alison after being given the address, she attacked him on the doorstep with a length of wood.
“She started straight away – she hit me on the head,” he added. “I put up my hands and I pushed her back towards the stairs.
“She came back hitting me with the piece of wood and Kenneth then g rabbed me round the throat.”
He said he must have taken hold of the knife but maintained: “I can’t remember when. The next thing I remember is seeing Kenneth on the lawn and I had the knife. He was holding his side.”
Slater admitted: “I feel absolutely awful – I feel terrible. It’s a night that will live with me forever. I never wanted to hurt anyone. It’s not easy living with what happened.”
The prosecution have alleged Slater was full of rage when he discovered where his wife was living with Mr Westwood.
He stabbed his new wife several times and it was only through luck she was still alive.
But Mr Westwood died from his wounds, said David Williams QC, who told the court he was deliberately murdered by Slater.
In evidence, Slater said his relationship with Alison had been “on and off ” and he said she had subjected him to violence on a number of occasions, including one incident where he was cut on the hand with a knife.
Slater has denied attempting to murder his wife and murdering Mr Westwood and the jury are expected to retire to consider the evidence at the end of the week.
For continuing coverage of the trial, visit dudleynews.co.uk for updates.
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