JURORS have heard the closing speeches in the case of a man who repeatedly stabbed his victim with a lock knife after he was called a paedophile on a bus.

Mark Pearson, 46, who is on trial at Newcastle Crown Court, is accused of trying to murder Michael Inwood outside of an Aldi store in Spennymoor on the afternoon of September 9, 2019.

Pearson accepts stabbing Inwood in the heart, neck and lung, but states that it was an accident and that he did not try and kill him.

He told the court whilst giving evidence: “If I meant to murder him I would have stood over the c*** and stabbed him again. How am I meant to know where his f*****g heart is? I don’t know about bodies.”

Ian Brook, prosecuting, said Pearson’s credibility was in tatters after he had changed his account several times and admitted lying about stabbing Mr Inwood.

He said: “He told us he wasn’t sure what was in his hand, that it could have been a comb. That is nonsense, you can clearly see the blade in the CCTV footage.

“He [Pearson] must have removed the knife from wherever he had it before he turned around to face Mr Inwood, because you can see that he was hiding it behind his back, he didn’t want Mr Inwood to see it.

“He [Pearson] held the knife behind his back with the blade extended ready to strike Mr Inwood, which he did, stabbing him to the heart and to the lung. This was no accidental stabbing whilst punching.”

Mr Brook also made reference to a message sent from Pearson’s phone to a friend shortly after the incident in which he said Mr Inwood had been stabbed and was “laid on the f*****g floor, flat out”.

He added: “Clearly Mr Inwood was incorrectly of the view that the defendant was a sexual offender. You may think he was obsessed about his belief, almost as a neighbourhood watch type of character.

“He makes no secret of the fact that he was regularly accusing him of being a nonce and a paedophile and he frequently offered him out, to fight. He is a fists man, the defendant is a weapons man.

“He [Pearson] accepts that he was raging and fuming and you have seen how angry he can get, you have seen it for yourselves here in court. Clearly it was the last straw, he was fed up of the nonce-calling.

“It was an intentional stabbing, he stabbed him through the heart. He intended to kill him and it is only good fortune that he survived.”

Tony Davis, for Pearson of Eden Road, Spennymoor, addressed the jury by saying: “You may wonder what on earth a defence solicitor says when you have witnessed all you have in the last six days.

“His [Pearson] life was made hell by this person, he is not making that up, that is the reality of it. What he wanted for was it to stop, and it has not, it is going on and on.”

The trial continues.