Stabbed father bled to death after argument with love rival

Scott Tarrant. Photo courtesy of Suffolk Constabulary. (Image: Archant)

Kieran Clarke told a jury he rang his friend Steven Butcher in the early hours of July 8 and described him as 'not sounding sounding like himself'.

Thirty minutes later Butcher arrived at his home in Kirkley Run, Lowestoft crying and 'a mess'.

Mr Clarke tried to calm him down and said that during their conversation Butcher told him: 'I think I've killed him' and mentioned Scott's name.

Mr Clarke was giving evidence at Ipswich Crown Court on Tuesday (January 15) on the second day of 24-year-old Butcher's trial.

Butcher, of Ashfield Crescent, Lowestoft, has denied murdering Mr Tarrant.

It has been alleged that Butcher stabbed Mr Tarrant after they fell out over a woman.

The court has heard that Mr Tarrant had been in an 'on off' relationship with Rebecca Supple and they had a child.

They had been living apart since early last year but continued to see each other.

Miss Supple had previously been in a relationship with Butcher and Mr Tarrant and Butcher had also been friends.

However, since he and Miss Supple split up Mr Tarrant 'got it into his head' that something was going on between her and Butcher and there was animosity between them.

On July 7 Miss Supple arranged to see Mr Tarrant after he'd watched an England World Cup game at a pub but they'd fallen out after he did not turn up and she invited Butcher round.

Mr Tarrant later turned up at Miss Supple's home in Underwood Close and banged at her door and pushed Butcher's motorbike over.

Butcher lost his temper and allegedly told Miss Supple: 'If he's done anything to my bike I'm going to ******* kill him' before allegedly grabbing a kitchen knife and going to the front door.

Miss Supple took the knife away and Butcher left the house and picked up has bike before allegedly going back inside to get his crash helmet, keys and the kitchen knife.

Shortly afterwards a witness saw two men swinging punches and then saw a man on the ground and a man holding a crash helmet standing over him holding a knife.

Miss Supple rushed to Mr Tarrant's aid after seeing him lying in a pool of blood.

He was taken to hospital but later died.

Mr Gair told the court that following the alleged stabbing Butcher had tried to leave the area on his motorbike but left on foot when he couldn't get it to start.

Butcher later claimed his motorbike had been stolen on the night in question.

Mr Gair told the court Butcher was seen on CCTV going through a gap between two houses and a knife, which had Mr Tarrant's blood on it and was identified by Miss Supple as belonging to her, was found in a drain in the area.

Butcher had also called a cab that night and allegedly told the driver he'd 'opened someone up' and had put the knife in a drain after stabbing them eight times.

The court heard that a post-mortem examination found Mr Tarrant had been stabbed nine times and had bled to death.

Peter Gair, prosecuting, said one of the wounds had damaged the aorta causing significant blood loss.

Another stab wound caused a collapsed lung and two other wounds caused kidney damage.

The pathologist who carried out the post-mortem concluded that 'severe' force was used to inflict the wounds.

Also giving evidence was Scott Tarrant's mother Davina Johnson who told the court that her son and Miss Supple had a 'love-hate relationship'.

She said they had been living together in a house he'd bought but had split up in 2017 after he found out she'd been on a trip to Amsterdam with Steven Butcher rather than her mum as she claimed.

The court has heard that after his arrest Butcher denied stabbing Mr Tarrant and said he hadn't been there when it happened.

The case continues.