A friend of Lee Gillespie, who died in a stabbing in High Wycombe town centre last year, has told a murder trial how the victim was attacked repeatedly by a man wielding a hunting knife that had been hidden in his jacket.

Jurors were shown video footage and heard eye witness accounts of the moment the 26-year-old victim was chased through All Saints churchyard before tripping and falling to the ground, which prosecutors claim allowed his attacker to stand over him and land 15 blows to his body.

Martin Stanislaus, Jodie Willis and Leigh Burns were accused of executing a brutal murder plan on Mr Gillespie – who the court heard was homeless – following a relationship break down between Willis and the victim.

The court heard that on August 22, the day of the stabbing, Gillespie had been sharing a spliff of "legal weed" with Rafal Podeszwa when he had noticed the trio coming towards him and fled.

Mr Podeszwa said: "The two men were running after him and Jodie was following. One man jumped off the grass area to follow Lee. The other two stayed on the grass area, some metres away.

Bucks Free Press:

Scene outside All Saints Church, in High Wycombe.

"Because of the raised grass area I could only see the top of Lee, the rest was obstructed and additionally it was obstructed by 'male two' and Jodie.

"The murderer drew a big knife from inside his jacket. It was bigger than a knife you would use to spread butter, it was like a hunting knife.”

The court was shown a video showing Mr Gillespie run through the grassy area, attempt to jump over a church wall and trip, falling to the floor.

As he lay on the road next to the church the video showed another man chasing after him before the video crucially panned away from the scene.

Jurors heard the witness describe watching a man stab his friend twice, turning away once before turning back again and "finishing what he had started" by launching a second attack.

Cross-examining the witness, Annette Henry, defending Stanislaus, said: “Are you saying Lee didn't get up and face 'who you call the murderer' face to face to look at what is happening?

"You say the man had stood for a moment, had turned away for one or two seconds then turned back towards the bench then you heard Lees voice trying to say something. The man you call the murderer turned back and finished what he started?

Bucks Free Press:

Tributes to Lee Gillespie have remained at the scene following his death.

“That’s a very dramatic event, something you say you will never forget, the attacker stops, takes a step away, Lee is on the floor trying to say something and the attacker goes back to finish what he started.

“I would say it is something you would never forget unless it never happened. You are saying you closed your eyes but you didn’t tell the police you shut your eyes when you gave your statement.”

Responding through a translator, Mr Podeszwa said: “I closed my eyes because I am a human being, this topic is very sensitive and I didn't feel very well after.

“In this situation you don't sit and count how many times someone got stabbed. It was an atrocity. I didn't sleep for about two weeks after the event."

  • Stanislaus, 38, from Ealing, was charged with murder and possession of a blade in public place and perverting course of justice.
  • Willis, 36, from The Mead, Beaconsfield, was charged with murder and with perverting course of justice.
  • Burns, 38, from Ealing, was charged with murder and perverting course of justice.

All three deny the charges against them. The trial continues at Reading Crown Court.