Dad stabbed man in attack in front of young girls and 'left him to die', court hears

A dad who stabbed a man multiple times in “an unprovoked and deadly attack” in front of two young girls before leaving him to die has appeared in court.

James Ireland, 41, stabbed 31-year-old Billy Moore in the face, throat and chest after he accused the victim of shouting at his 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old cousin.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court was told that Ireland knocked on the front door of Mr Moore’s partner, Rebecca Willows, on Yardley Avenue, Warrington, where the victim was staying. He then stabbed the man “again and again and again”.

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Ireland, of Lodge Lane in Bewsey, accepted he delivered the fatal blows but has denied murder and says he was acting in self-defence, reports the ECHO. He claimed he killed Mr Moore with his own knife after “disarming” him.

Iain Simkin, KC, opened the case for the prosecution this morning, telling the six men and six women of the jury that Mr Moore encountered the two girls walking along on Saville Avenue at around 10.30pm.

He said: “Firstly, he approached [Ireland’s daughter] and secondly [Ireland’s cousin]. They didn’t know him, but [the cousin] had seen him before, she thinks when she had been out with her mother.

“She drew the impression that Mr Moore was either drunk or had taken drugs, and it is accurate to say that Billy Moore was an active drug user at the time of his death. As he approached the girls, Billy shouted something like, 'Oi, oi, what, what'. Something was said.”

The court heard that the girls initially told an older man nearby what had happened, but coincidentally Ireland also walked up the street after visiting a local shop.

According to Ireland’s account