Christopher Allbury-Burridge murder trial: Would-be cannabis thief explains how he accidentally fatally stabbed Northampton man

The would-be cannabis thief who fatally stabbed Christopher Allbury-Burridge in Northampton insisted it was not deliberate but in self-defence, the murder trial jury heard today (Monday, August 16).

Taking the stand for the first time at Northampton Crown Court, Jordan Parker said the victim disturbed him as he was halfway into his Raeburn Road home in December.

The 24-year-old, from London, said he extended the knife, which he thought was in a sheath, towards the cannabis grower to ward him off and ran away.

On the drive back to the capital, Parker said he noticed there was blood on the knife and sheath was missing before later seeing the news that a man had died at the address.

Asked if he deliberately stabbed Mr Allbury-Burridge by his defence counsel, Naeem Mian QC, Parker replied: "No I didn't."

Mr Mian said: "Did you know he been stabbed?" Parker replied: "No I had no idea."

The murder and conspiracy to rob accused are: Parker, of Chingford Road, Walthamstow, Joel Cyrus, 26, of Whitney Road, Leyton; Calum Farquhar, aged 24, of Liverpool Road, Leyton; and Rakeem Leandre, aged 26, of Brewers Court, Norwich.

Parker explained that Farquhar and Leandre were at his house on December 10, when Farquhar received a call offering him the chance to steal cannabis from an unoccupied property in Northampton.

Farquhar was told he would need to find his own help so asked Parker, who had been involved in three cannabis thefts in Manchester and London previously, and Leandre, both accepted.

Parker then got a tool to smash glass from a friend he refused to name in case he needed to do so to enter the property, which turned out to be on the hilt of a knife and was delivered that night.

The defendant said he could use the knife to cut down the cannabis and it was in a loose-fitting sheath - but he did not mention it to his co-defendants.

Farquhar also called Cyrus to ask if he wanted to come as they needed another car to transport cannabis, who asked if he could bring another man.

Farquhar drove Parker and Leandre to Northampton in the early hours of the morning of December 11, stopping at Toddington services on the M1 for fuel and Leandre bought a pair of gloves.

When the trio arrived at Raeburn Road, they went over to Cyrus' car where they were introduced to Dele, the man he had brought along, whom Parker had never met before.

It was agreed Parker would gain entry to the property and he, Farquhar and Leandre then went back to their car, where Farquhar stayed as they thought he would not be needed and could pick them up when they were done.

Parker led the others around the side of the property, which he said had no light coming from it, climbed over the gate and tapped on the glass window of the back door with the end of the knife to smash it.

He then started entering through the hole in the door right foot first with the knife across his chest and his hood across his face to protect it from glass.

Before Parker's foot could touch the ground, a light came on and a man was shouting: "Who the f*** are you, get the f*** out of my house!"

Parker said he saw a figure rush towards him and 's***' himself as he thought no one was there and was scared he could be attacked and others might be there

"It was happening in a second, I'm trying to fling my weight out of the house back on the foot that's balanced outside the door," he explained.

"At the same time I wanted to make sure he didn't come near me so I extended my right arm in to the house.

"I wanted to keep him away from me for my own safety. I wanted him to see something was in my hand and that he wouldn't come near me."

Parker said he put the knife in his waistband and ran away back down the side of the house and told the others to do the same as someone was there, with them all fleeing to their cars and driving off.

The defendant said he argued with Farquhar and Leandre about someone unexpectedly being there before he noticed the knife was unsheathed and had blood on it.

Parker said he was not bleeding so assumed he must have injured the occupant and told his co-defendants, who were 'upset and p****** off' as they did not even know about the knife.

The defendant also said he called the person he got the knife from to let them know - once he got home, he said he dumped the weapon in a big bin outside his block of flats.

Parker said he woke up after a nap at around midday and searched online for Northampton news and the top story was that a man had been killed.

"My brain went in to a frenzy, I started panicking. My stomach dropped, I just felt like my head was swollen, like my brain was swollen in my head, I didn't want to actually believe what I was reading," he said.

In the afternoon, Parker was smoking on his stairwell when he saw Cyrus outside, who gestured for him to come down.

Parker said he told Cyrus what he had read online, which made him go 'ballistic' and he stormed off, but the defendant said he would take responsibility for what happened.

"I was all over the place, I can't even recall having a normal feeling, I can't recall feeling normal, I felt like I was not on this planet, nothing felt real," he said.

The trial continues.