St Leonards man told police ‘I’m going to kill somebody’ moments before stabbing

Ian Bryan, 58, unemployed of St Margaret’s Road, St Leonards, is charged with attempting to murder 17-year-old Josh Catterall and 32-year-old Liam Roberts at an address in St Margaret’s Road on Wednesday, April 22.

Today (Monday, October 26), a jury at Brighton Crown Court was told Mr Bryan stabbed Mr Catterall after being disturbed by loud music and shouting coming from the basement flat where the two men had been staying while they did some work in the area.

Mr Catterall suffered a wound to his neck, the court heard, and required surgery.

On Monday, the court heard Mr Bryan had been at his flat on the evening of April 22 when he heard loud music coming from the basement flat below him.

By about 8pm, he shouted down to two men – Mr Catterall and Mr Roberts – who were in the garden and told them to turn the music down.

Mr Catterall and Mr Roberts refused, the court heard, and neighbours reported seeing two men shouting up towards a man in a window above them. One neighbour reported seeing one of the males jumping onto a wall and holding a chair, while the other man picked up a broom and threw it towards the window where the man was, but missed.

Alan Gardner, prosecuting, told the court Mr Catterall and Mr Roberts left the flat shortly afterwards to get a takeaway.

During this time, Mr Bryan called police and told the operator to look on their PNC (Police National Computer) to know what he was ‘capable of’.

Mr Gardner said Mr Bryan was referring to two convictions for manslaughter from 1995 when he stabbed both his female partner and another man to death after finding them in bed together.

Mr Gardner added: “The prosecution suggests that the defendant wanted the police operator to know that he was capable of killing people.”

Mr Catterall and Mr Roberts returned to the flat a short time later where they turned on the music again and ate their takeaway food.

At 9.26pm, Mr Bryan called police for the second time and said: “A crime is about to be committed. I called about an hour ago, nothing has been done, and I am not going to be taunted anymore, I will react.

“I’m about to go next door and kill somebody and knife them...I’m on my way now. I don’t get taunted, I’ve never been taunted in my life.”

Armed with a knife, Mr Bryan banged on the door to the flat where Mr Catterall and Mr Roberts were. Mr Catterall opened the door and, according to Mr Gardner, Mr Bryan ‘slashed at Mr Catterall’s throat with the knife the moment the door was opened’.

Mr Roberts, who was stood about a metre behind Mr Catterall when he opened the door, said he saw his friend was bleeding and managed to get Mr Bryan to the floor. He said he ‘kicked or stamped’ on Mr Bryan’s head to keep him down before running outside with Mr Catterall.

Paramedics arrived on scene shortly afterwards, the court heard, and managed to stem the bleeding from Mr Catterall’s neck. He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, where he underwent surgery. Mr Roberts was uninjured apart from a couple of scratches.

Having been arrested and while receiving care from paramedics, Mr Bryan said: “I warned you this was going to happen and if you had checked my history you would have known.

“They kept provoking me. I told you I was going to do this. There’s only one person going to prison. I’ve killed someone haven’t I and I have history. If you had come earlier this wouldn’t have happened.”

During police interviews six days later, Mr Bryan said he had drank about ten cans of Carlsberg before the incident but claimed he was not drunk.

After calling the police the first time, he said he heard a bang on his window. He told police he went downstairs to ask them why they had banged on his window and claimed he took the knife ‘for protection’.

He said Mr Catterall had smacked him on the head when he opened the door, adding: “I just showed them the knife...that is about the last thing I remember because they must have hit me again or done something because I don’t remember. I certainly did not get anywhere near them to put a knife in them, certainly didn’t do that. After that it was just a big haze because I was left unconscious.”

He claimed he never entered the flat, but remembered a police officer shouting about a Taser before he was taken upstairs and put in a police car.

Mr Bryan denies two counts of attempted murder.

The trial continues.