Witnesses in murder trial recount frenzied knife attack on great-grandfather

Matthew Daley, 35, of St Elmo Road, Worthing, is accused of murdering 79-year-old Don Lock on the A24 in Findon last July.

He denies murder on the ground of diminished responsibility but admits killing the keen cyclist and retired solicitor.

On the first day of his trial at Lewes Crown Court, jurors heard from a number of witnesses, including Holly Jacklin, who was cycling along the A24 with her boyfriend Thomas Davies at the time of the attack.

She said: “As we approached the roundabout we could hear people shouting.

“When I looked over I could see the first male in the long grass with another standing over him, like he was holding someone down.

“He was stabbing him and people were shouting ‘stop, stop’.

“His fist was clenched, he had scruffy hair and a blue t-shirt, I was petrified as we were only on bikes and we didn’t know what he was going to do next.

“What really shocked me was the look on his face. He just looked angry, crazy, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

In a statement read to the court, driver Deborah Baker, said: “I could hear the victim shouting ‘help, get him off me, he’s stabbing me’. It looked like they were fighting.

“I saw the knife in his right hand. It happened so quickly, it was like something out of a film. At first it look like he was punching him to the front of his body.

“Don was doubled over, he was shouting for help. The attacker punched him several times. I didn’t hear any argument between them.

“It didn’t take Don long to be on the ground. At that point he was repeatedly stabbing him and I could see blood on the front of his body. It must have been 20 to 30 times while he was on the floor.

The court heard Daley had stopped taking his medication prior to the attack and had a history of autism spectrum disorder paranoid delusion.

The prosecution also claimed that Daley’s versions of events changed after he was arrested on July 18.

Mr Bennetts added: “The defendant will submit that he was not acting in an unlawful way, that he had been acting in lawful self defence.

“The defence will say he is not guilty of murder due to diminished responsibility. We will call two psychologists who will say that Mr Daley does suffer from an abnormality of mental function. He has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

“But it is the prosecution case that did not reduce his ability to judge the situation, understand his conduct, or remain in control of his actions.

“It does not follow he was incapable of committing murder. He was in control before he launched the fatal attack upon the deceased.

“It is the prosecution’s case that in these circumstances Mr Daley did not act in reasonable self defence. This defendant stabbed an unarmed man 39 times to death. That man didn’t attack him, quite contrary, that defendant was that attacker.”

The trial continues.