A MAN died after being stabbed by his neighbour when a petty row about a practical joke erupted into violence, a court was told yesterday.

Someone had put a “for sale” sign in the garden of James Thornley’s home in Chilton, County Durham, and he blamed Mark Sweeney.

The men exchanged angry words about the apparent prank, but a week later Mr Thornley held a barbecue in the hope of clearing the air.

At the end of the night, the neighbours shook hands and agreed to let bygones be bygones, a jury at Teesside Crown Court was told.

But a further argument appears to have started as they parted, and the two men were seen arguing and heard screaming at each other.

Minutes later, Mr Sweeney had been knifed twice – once in the stomach and once in the back – and died as a result of massive bleeding.

The jury of seven women and five men heard that Mr Thornley, who denies a charge of murder, will claim the attack was in self-defence and that he had been provoked.

But Graham Reeds, prosecuting, said: “We say the evidence in this case will be sufficient to dismiss all of these claims.

“It is the prosecution’s case that this defendant, affected as he was, no doubt, by drink, decided to settle the confrontation once and for all.”

The court was told that Mr Sweeney had moved into the house in Hollowfield last Christmas, and got on well with the Thornley family next door.

Mr Sweeney’s partner, Amanda Waterworth, fought back tears as she told the jury that she did not want to go to the barbecue.

She said she agreed to attend because she did not want other neighbours to think they held a grudge after the row about the sign.

Ms Waterworth became emotional again as she relived the argument, the stabbing, her partner lying gravely ill and her 999 call.

She said Mr Thornley yelled, “I’m going to f***ing kill you”, before the fatal clash a short while before midnight on June 26.

Mr Thornley was pushed away three times by his wife, Helen, but emerged with a kitchen knife and stabbed Mr Sweeney twice, the court heard.

One of the blows, which went in nearly 10in, through his liver and into his kidney – caused “catastrophic” blood loss, said Mr Reeds.

After being taken to hospital for emergency surgery, Mr Sweeney suffered a heart attack as a result of the bleeding and died.

Mr Reeds said Mr Thornley calmly returned to his home, washed the knife and then told police a series of lies after he was arrested.

The court heard that as he cleaned the knife, a guest at the party is said to have seen him in an angry mood, and heard him refer to Mr Sweeney as “an arsehole”.

Mr Reeds said Mr Thornley called police while Ms Waterworth was on the phone to the ambulance service.

He told the operator that Mr Sweeney had tried to attack him, but made no mention of the stabbing or the injuries he caused, Mr Reeds said.

“What the prosecution say is that this was the defendant’s attempt to set up in advance his defence of selfdefence,”

he added.

“He got in quickly with the police, alleging that he had been attacked when he knew full well that Mark Sweeney was severely injured.”

Hours later, after he was judged by a police doctor to be sober enough to be questioned, Mr Thornley changed his account twice, Mr Reeds said.

He initially said he had nothing in his hand and did not see blood, but later said Mr Sweeney ran at him and the knife went in by accident.

Mr Reeds said: “He said he felt sorry for his girlfriend, that he was in shock. The prosecution say he was being insincere and this was no accident.”

The trial continues.