Trial hears how Bewsey man stabbed man and left him to die

James Ireland is charged with the murder of Billy Moore, 31, in Bewsey just before Christmas last year.

Ireland, of Lodge Lane, Bewsey, denies ‘repeatedly’ stabbing Mr Moore in an attack that took place on Yardley Avenue on December 22, 2022.

The trial of Ireland started this morning, Thursday, and is expected to last between five and six days.

Opening the trial, Iain Simkin said that the 41-year-old accepts he killed Mr Moore but says he was acting in ‘lawful self-defence’.

Mr Simkin said the offence happened on the night of December 22 when Ireland knocked on Mr Moore’s door on Yardley Avenue.

The court heard how Ireland went there after hearing from his cousin and daughter that a man fitting Mr Moore’s description had shouted at them in the street and made them feel uncomfortable.

Billy Moore (Image: Cheshire Police)

Mr Moore approached the girls at a time when they were separated and on different sides of the road, the trial heard.

One of them drew the impression that Mr Moore, an active drug user, was either drunk or on drugs.

The court was told how as Mr Moore approached the girls, he shouted something similar to: “Oi, oi, what, what?”

After Ireland heard this from his daughter and cousin, he headed to Mr Moore’s address.

Mr Simkin said: “When he got to Billy Moore’s then address, rather than simply seeking an explanation or some form of an apology, James Ireland launched an unprovoked and deadly attack.

“Billy Moore tried to defend himself, he pushed the defendant back against a wall and held him by the neck.

“However, he failed to deter the defendant, who repeatedly stabbed Billy Moore to his chest his face, and most deadly of all – to his throat.

“When he stopped his attack, the defendant simply let Billy Moore to die.”

The scene at the time of the murder (Image: Warrington Guardian)

The trial heard how Ireland left Mr Moore to bleed in a hallway and told his daughter and cousin not to say anything to anyone about the attack.

He discarded the knife he had used for the killing and the bloodied clothes he had been wearing at the time, Mr Simkin told the jury.

He then ‘lay low’ for two days before handing himself in.

Liverpool Crown Court was told how the defendant and victim knew each other and lived just streets away. And less than an hour before the incident, they had bumped into one another near a local shop and had talked briefly and even hugged as they parted.

Mr Simkin said: “The prosecution say that what the defendant did when he repeatedly stabbed Mr Moore clearly amounts to murder.”

The trial also heard about the injuries sustained by Billy Moore after a postmortem was carried out at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital on December 23.

Mr Moore, who at the time of the attack was wearing four layers of clothing on his upper body, had ‘incised wounds’ which were caused by a  knife.

He had stab wounds below his eye, on his face, on his lower neck, on his chest and on his forearm.

Mr Simkin said the characteristics of the wounds were ‘typical of those commonly associated with the use of a knife’.

After being arrested at his dad’s house two days later when he handed himself in, Ireland was seen by a nurse who did not note any injuries.

Jurors heard how in a police interview, Ireland said the pair ending up fighting in the hallway after Mr Moore ‘tired to throw a dig’ at him.

He told officers they were both ‘throwing punches’. Ireland said he stopped and walked off as Mr Moore was ‘shouting loads of abuse’.

At a later date, Ireland claimed he had stabbed Moore with his own knife in a ‘lawful self-defence’.

Mr Simkin said: “The prosecution contend that the defendant has made up this new account in the face of overwhelming evidence.

“As you know, the defendant now accepts that he repeatedly stabbed Billy Moore, he stabbed him again and again and again and again, so many times in fact that, that you can have no doubt that James Ireland intended, at the very least really serious harm, so many times in fact that you can be sure that he murdered Billy Moore for nothing.”

The trial continues.