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Woman ‘stabbed partner with steak knife after drunken row then left him to die'

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A woman stabbed her boyfriend in the heart with a steak knife and left him for 45 minutes before calling an ambulance, a court heard.

Emma-Jayne Magson, 23, is accused of murdering 26-year-old James Knight outside her home following a drunken row.

After stabbing him she pretended he had been in a fight and even stopped a good samaritan from turning him over because it would have revealed his wound, the court was told.

She then went inside to change her clothes and waited 45 minutes before dialling 999, but when she was told an ambulance would be delayed, she told the operator: “That’s fine, don’t worry about it,” a jury heard.

She blamed his injuries on an altercation with bouncers, a jury heard.

Hours before, the couple had gone on a night out in Leicester city centre, before getting a taxi to Magson’s home at about 12.30am on March 27.

In the cab, the pair started arguing, and were ordered to get out by the driver after Magson started kicking Mr Knight.

Leicester Crown Court heard the couple continued arguing outside Magson’s home where she plunged a 11.5cm (4.5ins) steak knife into his chest.

Mr Knight collapsed, before taking off his T-shirt and telling her: “My heart is bleeding”, the jury was told.

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Magson at court today

Mr Knight’s dying last breaths could be heard on a “chilling” 999 call Magson made 45 minutes later, in which she claims he had “collapsed” after a night out.

Magson, of Leicester, denies murder, claiming she acted in self-defence.

Prosecutor Michael Evans QC told the jury of six men and six women Magson plunged the knife into Mr Knight’s heart in “anger”, and not to protect herself.

He told the jury Magson took Mr Knight’s blood-soaked T-shirt indoors and went back outside to downplay the seriousness of his injury by lying to neighbours, including the victim’s brother, Kevin, who lived nearby.

She told them he was drunk and had been fighting with bouncers.

Mr Evans said Mr Knight and Magson had been in a relationship for some time, and it was “volatile on both sides”.

Mr Evans said: “As soon as they got into the cab they began arguing.”

He said the taxi driver asked them to leave, “when James Knight was sitting on one side of the seat and the defendant was lying down on the other side, kicking him”.

They got out in the Pool Road area, where CCTV cameras captured Mr Knight pushing Magson “aggressively” to the floor.

Magson got up and they continued walking to her house on Sylvan Street, Newfoundpool, Leicester, at one point holding hands.

A neighbour later heard banging on Magson’s door, with Mr Knight asking her to let him in and her responding: “I’m not letting you in after last time.”

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The scene of Mr Knight’s stabbing

Mr Knight then phoned a friend saying Magson was “kicking off”. Mr Evans said: “Those were the last words anyone, other than the defendant, heard him say before he was stabbed.”

After being stabbed, Mr Knight quickly became unconscious and two locals and his brother rushed to his aid. Mr Evans said Magson “deceived them into believing he wasn’t seriously injured, saying ‘he’s on coke, he’s on drugs, he doesn’t need help’.”

He added: "Her calmness caused even his own brother to be deceived that he didn’t need help.”

Mr Knight’s brother helped carry him into Magson’s home.

Mr Evans said: “What his brother, Kevin, didn’t realise was that whilst carrying him, he was dying. The brother was ushered out and she shut the door, leaving just him and her alone."

He said that "for many minutes, nothing happened - Magson went upstairs to change, leaving him where he had been left by his brother."

The fatal attack took place on the night the clocks went forward an hour. Mr Evans said: "Eventually after 3am she called for an ambulance.”

Minutes later, Mr Knight was dead. Mr Evans added: “It was only then she moves into the street screaming 'He’s dead’.

"It’s only then his brother, nearby, realises how serious it is.”

Magson told police at the scene they had not been out together, and that Mr Knight had turned up at her house alone and collapsed outside her home, where she had found him.

Mr Evans said: "It was only when she realised she had no option that she admits she stabbed him.”

The trial continues.

Pictures from SWNS