A judge has been summing up the evidence in the case of a man stabbed to death under a disused railway bridge in High Wycombe.

The body of Karl Stanislaus, 44, was found in Bowden Lane on September 5 last year.

He had sustained 56 knife wounds, including to the heart and lungs.

Tyrell James, 24, of Patrick Haugh Road in Arncott, has been standing trial accused of murdering Mr Stanislaus.

Summing up the case to jurors today (March 26), Judge Heather Norton described James as a "self-confessed drug dealer."

The prosecution has claimed he murdered Mr Stanislaus over a drug-related dispute.

Giving evidence last week, James alleged that he and the victim hatched a plot to rob a rival dealer after luring him to Bowden Lane.

This went awry, culminating in a struggle where he was forced to stab Mr Stanislaus in self-defence.

Judge Norton said: "The prosecution do not accept this account.

"They suggest that the defendant had far more sinister intentions, and that those intentions were directed not towards [the other dealer], but towards Karl Stanislaus."

The circumstances around the incident were extensively documented on CCTV.

The prosecution even produced an audio recording of the stabbing, in which Mr Stanislaus is heard begging for his life.

The killing appears to have taken place within a relatively short window.

Judge Norton said of this: "Tyrell James arrived at Bowden Lane by bike approximately 10 minutes before Karl Stanislaus, who arrived shortly after 9.36pm.

"He was still alive at 9.39pm, when there was a 10-second call from the defendant to Karl Stanislaus.

"But, just five minutes later, Tyrell James cycled away from the scene, leaving Karl Stanislaus dead or dying on the ground."

The prosecution have suggested that James' behaviour prior to the stabbing indicate a degree of pre-planning, inconsistent with the defendant's claims that the killing was in self-defence.

They allege that he changed his clothes shortly before the incident - and also highlight that he initially denied any involvement with Mr Stanislaus to police, only changing his story later on.

Gauging a specific motive for the killing has proven impossible, as there were no text messages between James and the victim in the run-up to the stabbing.

The men were in contact just before Mr Stanislaus was found dead, and the victim had alluded to going to 'pick something up' in conversation with a friend.

The judge said: "There are no eyewitnesses to what took place. Only two people know what happened, and one of them is dead."

The jury in the case will be sent out shortly to consider their verdict.