A KIDDERMINSTER man on trial for murder told a court had he been sober, he would not have stabbed his victim.

Nathan Calder, of Eddy Road, has claimed self-defence after killing Paul Lundy after he was “sexually propositioned and manhandled” in his flat in Maureen Aston Court, Broad Street in May this year.

At a trial which started on Tuesday, November 26, Worcester Crown Court heard Calder and Mr Lundy were drinking before the defendant was invited to the 48-year-old victim’s flat.

Calder previously told the court he “lashed out,” stabbing Mr Lundy multiple times with a knife after he was asked to perform sexual acts.

In a closing speech to the jury today (Monday, December 9) prosecutor Mr Jonas Hankin read out a previous statement made by Mr Calder in court, which said: “I would not have done the same thing under the same circumstances if I were sober.”

Mr Hankin told the jury: “By his own admission this went beyond what a sober person would do."

He told the court: “Whatever he might have said or done or whatever was the cause of the outbreak of violence, the intensity of the violence Mr Calder used in response to an unarmed man was grossly disproportionate and unreasonable.”

Mr Hankin said that Mr Lundy’s “pushing” was “not accompanied by punching or kicking or biting.”

“This was a modest assault by a man old enough to be his father who had been drinking since lunch time,” he said.

“In these circumstances, nothing can justify what Mr Calder did, not being drunk, not being in a panic.

“This was a focused and determined attack involving forceful stabbing at the vital structure of the face and neck.

“There was a struggle where Mr Lundy tried in vain to protect himself.”

Mr Hankin finally said to the jury: “A true verdict is one that finds Mr Calder guilty of murder by causing Mr Lundy’s death and intending to kill him.”

In his speech, Mr Alisdair Williamson, for Calder, told the jury: “The defendant was a victim of sexual assault.

“Imagine his embarrassment after having to tell his father. For a man like Mr Calder, it’s not easy to describe.

“There’s something deeply troubling about Paul Lundy’s behaviour.

Mr Williamson read out a statement made by Mr Lundy’s son Lewis Hughes which said that his father was “aggressive” to his son when drunk.

Mr Williamson read: “He was aggressive to me when he was drunk, which would lead to us having fist fights in the flat. There were holes in the walls and blood on the floor.

“It could be really nasty.”

Mr Williamson also told the court that Mr Lundy would expose himself in front of his son.

Mr Williamson said: “You will ask yourselves, when he says If he had been sober he would not have done this, are those the words of a man looking back with obvious regret of what has occurred?

“In the heat of that attack, was Mr Calder supposed to wait? Is anyone supposed to wait until they come to harm before they defend themselves?

“What happened was awful, what happened was tragic.

“The law allows in the heat of a threat to do what we instinctively feel is necessary.

“What Mr Calder did was reasonable.

“Your verdict will not wash this away. The only right verdict is not guilty.”

Calder denies murder. The trial continues.