The £5-plus row led to “fatal stabbing and slashing” court hearings.

A murder suspect stabbed a man to death, stabbed another in the chest and slashed his ex-girlfriend in the face after “certifying” for a £5 debt and a vacuum cleaner, a court heard.

Ian Scott plunged the gun into Liam Humphries’ heart before leaving him bleeding and mortally wounded in the stairwell of a block of flats on Hillaby Close in Toxteth. He was allegedly “angry, threatened and determined to fight” with the 28-year-old, the friend of the deceased Tamas Jonas and his ex-partner Rebecca Scott – with whom he was “arguing” following their break-up – at the time of the incident.

The 38-year-old accused then cycled away from the scene, still holding the knife, before “disguising himself” in workman’s clothes and triggering a police “manhunt”. Scott went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court today charged with Mr Humphries’ murder, but claims he acted in self-defence after allegedly being subjected to an “unprovoked attack”.

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Tim Storrie KC told a jury of four men and eight women during the opening of the prosecution this afternoon, Wednesday: “On Sunday, December 10 last year, the defendant, Ian Scott, armed himself with knives, left his flat and down a series. of stairs to a door so that he could confront a group of three with violence. In that group was a woman named Rebecca Scott and her companions – a man named Liam Humphries and another, Tamas Jonas.

“Well, what happened next? The violence overwhelmed all three.

“They were each the subject of a knife attack and the man the prosecution say was responsible was Ian Scott. During the fight, Ian Scott killed Liam Humphries by stabbing him in the chest.

“Tamas Jonas suffered a similar injury. There were attempts to stab him, but in the end he received a wound that penetrated deep into his abdomen. It caused him a catastrophic injury. It was the kind of wound you’d think you’d cause if you did. he wanted someone dead.

“Rebecca Scott received a slash to the face with a knife. The gun was drawn to his face and the wound extended from his ear to his mouth.

“We say this defendant was angry, threatened and determined to fight these three people. We’re saying that he intended for them to suffer, at the very least, some really serious harm, and so he took a knife and stabbed on purpose. them with the consequence that one was dead and the other two seriously injured.

“You will hear that Ian Scott’s case is that he only acted in reasonable self-defence and that he was the subject of an unprovoked attack and that his actions were out of an honest instinct to defend himself. Whether you can be sure of the prosecution’s case and where the truth lies, you will ultimately decide.”

Jurors heard that Scott and Mr Humphries did not know each other before the day in question and that the latter had only been in the area that day as he was friends with Ms Scott. Mr Jonas was similarly a stranger to the defendant and was said to have been present when he met the deceased to “help with his family and pets”.

Mrs Scott, aged thirty, was no relation to the accused but was a “close neighbour” of his on Hillaby Close and had previously been in a relationship with him. However, it “quickly turned sour” and the former couple “recently argued about property” in a series of messages.

It said Mrs Scott “wanted £5 returned” and a massage chair, while Scott “asked for a vacuum cleaner returned”. Mr Storrie, who was assisted by junior counsel Frances Willmott, said: “Now, seen against the background of all that was to happen, you will no doubt agree that these arguments were of an inexpressibly trivial nature, but there were these arguments and these exchanges. which explains how the events unfolded on Sunday, December 10.

“That day, the two had an argument. Rebecca Scott has been the subject of abusive remarks and threats.

“These remarks and threats took place when the defendant came down from his address to confront her and continued throughout the morning of that day. You may consider, and you will have to judge, whether it was a natural response for Rebecca Scott to want people around her who, she believed, could deter her from this kind of behavior.”

Ms Scott’s sister Jaelyn Bonner then contacted Mr Humphries who “said he would be coming along with his friend Tamas Jonas to provide a calming presence”. They arrived at the address shortly before 12.45pm – just 10 minutes before the “violent confrontation in which Liam Humphries lost his life”, which was partly caught on CCTV.

Scott was said to have “continued to shout from above” after he was apparently “inflamed by the presence” of the two men as he and Mrs Scott gathered near the communal entrance to his building. Mr Storrie told the court: “There was a time when Tamas Jonas, Liam Humphries and Rebecca Scott walked through the shared door of the flats at Hillaby Close.

“Upstairs, in his apartment, he could have done a lot of things. He could have, for example, ignored them. But he didn’t do that. We say, that’s because it’s clear that he wanted a violent confrontation.”

Scott was allegedly told to “come in here and say it” in response to remarks he had made, to which he “didn’t hesitate to say he would”. Mr Storrie continued: “Did the three people in the street expect violence?

“Well, it’s clear, you might think, that Liam Humphries at least thought there was a risk of violence. He decided to use a dog chain as a sort of makeshift weapon.

“You may also believe, given the tone of the exchanges that took place, that for anyone there was an obvious real risk of violence that these people would have perceived might arise from the defendant’s arrival. There is an apparent fantasy of Liam Humphries seeing the defendant at the door and it is open.

“In these opening seconds it would have been obvious to those who were there that the defendant was armed with a blade and it could have felt to Liam Humphries as if the defendant could have even walked away. But two and a half minutes later, as you will see when people come out, the result became clear.

“The violence that took place was relentless. Tamas Jonas was the first to exit the building.

“He asked for help. Damage to the jacket revealed a series of stabbing attempts. He himself had been stabbed in the abdomen and was currently about to collapse. But not before calling 999.

“Mr Jonas called 999. He was followed by Rebecca Scott, who was clutching the right side of his face. She was going to seek help at a nearby store. In the building, lying in a stairwell, Liam Humphries suffered the wound. his heart that was supposed to kill him.

“At the same time, this defendant was seen fleeing the scene on a bicycle. You will see the moment Ian Scott left Hillaby Close, knife in hand. We will see him later. He had fled the scene.

“He had dropped the knife in the hope it wouldn’t be found. He had fallen off the bike.

“He didn’t call the police and complain about being attacked. In fact, he had disguised himself in worker’s clothes, walking on a nearby street.”

Scott was caught on camera walking near Loudon Grove shortly after 1.45pm, holding a football and with his hood up, wearing a hi-vis jacket and hard hat “in the hope of not being identified” . Meanwhile, police and paramedics attended the scene and found Mr Humphries “with an obvious chest wound”.

He was rushed to the Royal Liverpool Hospital and later underwent emergency surgery but was pronounced dead at 2.45pm. A post-mortem examination later found that the knife “passed through his ribs and entered his heart”.

Mr Jonas was taken to Aintree Hospital and operated on, the gun “passed straight through the colon”. Mrs Scott also needed surgery to repair her facial injuries.

Forensic scientists found “at least four areas of damage” to Mr Humphries’ coat as a result of Scott’s apparent “persistent attempts to injure him with a knife”. Two other cuts were found on Mr Jonas’ jacket, indicating “the defendant’s continued use of a knife during the course of the struggle”.

The altercation was said to have led to a “manhunt” by Merseyside Police, but Scott handed himself in at St Anne Street police station two days later on the evening of 12 December. interview “reporting that he was forced to defend himself and equipped himself with a knife”, described as a “small knife” with which he claimed he armed himself “as a deterrent”.

However, he claimed he was followed to his flat and “cornered”. Mr Storrie added: “The last thing he said he wanted to do was hurt anyone.”

Scott, who appeared in court wearing a white shirt and gray tie and sporting a shaved head, also said he was not abusive towards his ex-partner and that he “just goes to the flat door to talk to the men and her “. But he said the three then chased him to his own front door, which he could barely close against their weight” before taking his bike and running down the stairs, where he threw them a “frustrated” knife.

This reportedly prompted them to flee back to his flat, leading to a “physical struggle” on the landing outside his property. Scott claimed he “begged them to leave him alone” but that his ex was “full of rage” and held the gun “hoping they would leave him alone”.

He said he hit Ms Scott “by accident when she turned her arms around” and left “solely with the intention of freeing herself from the prospect of another attack”. Mr Storrie added: “In the case of Ian Scott, he agrees to stab and kill Liam Humphries.

“He admits to stabbing Tamas Jonas and Rebecca Scott, but says these events are explained by the fact that he had to defend himself. You might want to be careful about asking yourself this.

“What was the truth about his behavior towards Rebecca Scott? Did that behavior demonstrate that he was actually the source of the threats?

“What was his true intention when he decided to equip himself with not one, but two weapons, weapons that he must have known were capable of causing devastating harm? And what were the precise circumstances in which these three people suffered injuries of incomparable severity. to any injuries he sustained?”

Scott – who is represented by Nigel Power KC and Sarah Holt – denies murdering Mr Humphries, attempting to kill Mr Jonas and wounding with intent against both him and Ms Scott. The trial, before Mr Justice Freedman, continues and is expected to last three to four weeks.

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