A MAN accused of a brutal knife killing in a Flintshire flat claimed his alleged victim was a “smackhead” who had gone “a bit nuts”, a court heard.

Christian Francis Williams faces a charge of murdering Andrew Hamilton, 42, in his flat after a row between the two men who lived in the same apartment block, Forresters Hall.

Mr Hamilton had spent the evening of July 18 last year with his girlfriend, Zara Cullum, shopping first for food and then liquor.

Mr Hamilton took Viagra and was looking to “score” some cocaine but the couple argued and Ms Cullum drove off as her partner went back into the flat complex followed by Williams.

Soon after Mr Hamilton was dead after suffering “catastrophic stab injuries” in a sustained attack. A blood-stained kitchen knife was found next to his head.

Police officers found Williams at the dead man’s door covered in blood and he was immediately handcuffed on suspicion of murder.

In a statement read to Mold Crown Court, Ms Cullum told how she and Mr Hamilton had been shopping in Asda and then went to a “Pakastani shop” in Bagillt where they bought Pink Gin.

She said she noticed Williams outside the flats when they returned and there was an “exchange of friendly banter” between the group.

“We were both tired and Andy had taken some Viagra tablets.

"He had washed the pots and he poured some Pink Gin but we had an argument because one of his friends phoned my phone,” said Ms Cullum.

The pair carried on arguing and Ms Cullum decided to go home, although she said her partner wanted to be dropped off in Holywell to “score” drugs.

“Andy started getting shitty towards me. He made some calls to Scousers about drugs, but they had run out.

"I didn’t want him to score and I didn’t want to drive around all night,” she said.

Williams, the court was told, saw the pair arguing from his ground floor flat and came outside to ask what the row was about.

He handed the pair a bottle of red wine and Ms Cullum said he told her: “Andy is the nicest guy I know, but we all have our flaws.”

She added: “Chris went to get a bottle of wine from the shop and asked if Andy needed help getting out of the car.

"We were bickering and Andy went back to the flats. Chris followed 20 seconds later. I decided then to make the decision to leave (at about 10.15pm).”

Ms Cullum said her relationship with Mr Hamilton had been an “on/off” one for 18 months after they first met “in detox in Wrexham”.

She said a restraining order was previously put in place preventing him from making contact, but she said the court order suggested it “was worse than it was”.

“Andy was lovely to me most of the time. He joked about us being a ‘love/hate relationship’ but I did love him and we had a lot in common, one of the main ones being drugs,” she said.

Ms Cullum said she was shown a photograph of the knife found by the head of her partner, but she could not remember having seen it in Mr Hamilton’s flat.

After the alleged attack Williams called the emergency services and a recording of the call was played to the court.

He told an operator he had sustained a cut wound to his hand and he thought “Andrew” was deceased.

“After his girlfriend went he went a bit nuts. He lashed out and one thing led to another. He got the better of me and I got the better him – all Hell broke loose,” said Williams in the call.

“He said I was threatening his girlfriend. He went like a lunatic.

“We’ve all sustained multiple wounds. I was fighting for my life.

"He’s a smackhead and was accusing me of all sorts.”

Williams, it is alleged, carried out his attack on Mr Hamilton using a kitchen knife and saucepan. The deceased suffered 25 separate wounds to his face and body, including gaping wounds to his neck, as well as a ruptured eye ball.

PC Fay Headley said in a statement that she found Williams covered in blood and Mr Hamilton lying in a pool of blood with a significant wound to his neck which she said “far too severe for anyone to survive”.

When he was interviewed by police, Williams said he had broken a bottle of red wine accidentally in Mr Hamilton’s flat and it proved to be a flashpoint.

He said he was grabbed by the deceased and they tussled in a bedroom and then it spilled over into the hall.

He claimed Mr Hamilton was blocking the door and said: “I tried to get out and shoved him. I tried to drag him off and crowned him one with the saucepan because I couldn’t shift him from the door.

“All I wanted to do was get out, but he was having none of that.

“He sees the knife and goes for it and I just grabbed hold of him.

“I was trying to keep hold of him and keep the knife separate.

“I had hold of the knife, I just wanted to get away, I just started rubbing the knife on his chest and on his neck.”

He told officers: “I was just rubbing it, it pierced the skin but it was not hard at all. I’d seen a bit of blood, a tiny bit of blood.

“It was just a hazy fog, it all happened so quick. Then I saw some blood and it wasn’t just a drop and that’s when I reached for my phone.

"That’s when I realised he needed help.”

Williams, 44, of High Street, Bagillt, denies murder.

The trial continues