Murder suspect 'out of control' as Richard Helm stabbed to death
A man was “out of control and enjoying the violence” when he murdered a father after taking sides in a feud that had nothing to do with him, a jury heard.
Danny Cooper, 32, pushed a knife into the chest of Richard Helm, who was hunting for the attacker who had beaten up his sister Kelsie and her mother-in-law Debra Allen, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
The 37-year-old victim had just arrived at the scene when tragedy struck around 5.15am on October 12, revealed Mr Stephen Linehan QC, prosecuting.
The fracas happened outside the home of Matty Stinson – whom he had wrongly been told was the culprit – in Raven Crescent, Ashmore Park.
“Barely five minutes later he was dead or dying, fatally stabbed by a blade that cut completely through one of his ribs, went six inches into his chest and right through his heart,” Mr Linehan told the court.
“Danny Cooper was the man who killed him and was out of control, enjoying the violence he was engaging in.
"He knew about the feud and decided to join in on the side of Stinson.”
The defendant admitted throwing two slabs of cement through the windows of the bedroom where the two of the three children of Kelsie Helm were sleeping, slightly injuring one of them, earlier that night, the court heard.
He also confessed to being the person who punched Kelsie to the ground three times and hit her mother-in-law during an attack outside her home in nearby Adey Road, said Mr Linehan.
Cooper later told police he had picked up the knife outside the house and Mr Helm “fell onto” the blade while running towards him.
Mr Linehan alleged the knife had been taken from a block in the kitchen by Cooper on his way outside.
He and his friend Ashley Wilson – who was alleged to have egged him on – fled from the scene and were not arrested for several days.
Cooper, from Maytree Close, and Ashley Wilson, of Guernsey Drive, both Chelmsley Wood, each deny murder and the trial continues.
