A father accused of murdering his girlfriend told police she “must have stabbed herself”, a trial has heard. Rebekah Campbell died after suffering 18 stab wounds during a “sustained and violent assault” inside her own home at Knowsley Heights in Huyton, Merseyside, on April 15 this year.
After being gravely injured, the 32-year-old told neighbours who came to her aid that “my fella stabbed me”, Liverpool Crown Court heard. She collapsed outside the block of flats where she lived, with her clothes heavily stained with blood. As she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, asked a police officer “am I gonna die?”. Her partner Michael Ormandy denies the charge of murder and claims to have acted in self-defence.
The 34-year-old, of Linacre Road in Litherland, Merseyside, was arrested on the towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal around two hours after the stabbing.
On Thursday, jurors were shown footage captured by a police helicopter as Ormandy was located on the towpath where he was seen throwing an item onto the water as he was approached by armed officers and arrested, the Liverpool Echo reports.
His mobile phone was later retrieved from the canal by police and while being searched, in reference to rows between the couple during a night out in Liverpool city centre days earlier, told police: “This wouldn’t have happened if you did your job last week.”
Body armour and a pair of bloodstained leather gloves were allegedly seized from Ormandy during the search.
Video taken from the body worn cameras of arresting officers was then played to the court, with Ormandy shown being led to nearby Bridge Road in handcuffs.
After being informed Ms Campbell had sustained an estimated 20 stab wounds, Ormandy replied: “20 times? There’s no way. She must have stabbed herself. As soon as I walked in, she started attacking me. She had the knife ready. She can’t have been stabbed 20 times. No, that’s not even possible.”
He was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder but was later arrested on suspicion of murder at 1.40am following Ms Campbell’s death.
After this, Ormandy “became visibly upset”, the court heard.
Under interview the following evening, he said in a prepared statement his relationship with Ms Campbell had been “good” and she had “not been violent towards me” until a night out on April 12 — days before she died.
He claimed Ms Campbell was “more out of control than usual” and alleged she threw a shoe at him.
Ormandy also alleged she slapped him, saying this was witnessed by police officers, and claimed to have later “struck out in self-defence” after she attacked him again later in the night.
Speaking about the night of Ms Campbell’s death, in his statement, Ormandy said: “She had been liking pictures of other males on Facebook. As soon as I walked in, Rebekah started kicking me off, calling me paranoid. Words were exchanged, and I walked out of her flat. I thought I should go back, as I didn’t want to leave things like that.”
He said after returning to the flat, Ms Campbell “immediately screamed ‘I’ve got a knife’” and saw a blade in her right hand.
Ormandy claimed she tried to stab him and he attempted to disarm her using his right hand.
He continued: “I stumbled back over one of the puppies. Rebekah came down on top of me. The knife came out of her hand as we landed. My hand was heavily bleeding.
“Rebekah again went for the knife, which was on my body while I was laying on my back. She grabbed it with her left hand. I pulled the knife from her. This was in my right, injured hand. I hit her once in order to defend myself. When doing so, it felt like the blade had gone into her side.
“Rebekah was still trying to attack me. I then saw her own dog attacking her. I did not believe I was in possession of the knife. My hand was pouring with blood and felt numb. I punched her several times to her right side and back. I believe the knife was somewhere on the floor at this time. I believed I was punching her in self defence.”
He said he called the police and requested an ambulance before leaving.
Ormandy said: “I deny that I’m responsible for any assault on Rebekah. I deny that I intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm. I believed I was acting in self defence and using reasonable force under the circumstances.
“It was my belief, when I was punching her in self defence, I was not in possession of the knife I had taken from her. I would like to add that I am devastated at the news that Rebekah has died.”
The prosecution previously said a friend of Ms Campbell was speaking to her on the phone at the time of the incident.
She reported Ms Campbell shouting “go away, get out Mick”, before hearing a “loud bang” and the sound of puppies barking, at which stage the line “went quiet”.
A Home Office post-mortem investigation showed Ms Campbell sustained 18 stab wounds and nine slash wounds during a “sustained, violent assault”.
The trial at Liverpool Crown Court continues.
