Martin Stanislaus tells court he stabbed High Wycombe man Lee Gillespie to defend himself from needle attack

Martin Stanislaus is accused of brutally knifing the 26-year-old to death in All Saints churchyard, on the orders of a former partner who had a series of disagreements with the victim following a break-up.

However he has claimed today that he stabbed Mr Gillespie as a pre-emptive strike - believing he was about to have a dirty needle used for injecting heroin plunged into him.

He said that the father-of-two, who is originally from Scotland, stabbed him in the hand, which cut down to the bone.

Prosecutors have claimed that Stanislaus went to the scene of the killing already armed with a knife, which he used to stab Mr Gillespie at least 15 times.

However Stanislaus told the jury that it was Mr Gillespie who was already armed with the knife, and he had disarmed him of the weapon before striking him with it in an act of self-defence.

After meeting with Willis at her home in The Mead, Beaconsfield, and being joined by co-accused Leigh Burns they tracked down Mr Gillespie in the churchyard.

Lee Gillespie.

Stanislaus, 38, told the court it was his understanding that Mr Gillespie dealt drugs in the graveyard.

Asked what the purpose of meeting him was, Stanislaus said: "Just to tell him to stay away from Jodie's property."

He said the best case scenario was to "just have a chat and part ways", but admitted he was prepared for violence as he considered the worst possible outcome to be a fight.

Stanislaus told the court that as he, Willis and Burns entered the graveyard they saw a group of five or six people. One of the men, upon seeing Willis, stood up and the pair started shouting at each other - prompting Stanislaus to conclude the man was Mr Gillespie.

He told the jury, sitting at Reading Crown Court: "He came towards her. He had something in his hand. He seemed to take it out of the case. I could see it shining silver.

"I moved around him so I was in front of Jodie.

"I went to punch him. I was struck in the hand with the knife.

"We wrestled. I grabbed the hilt of the knife. I pulled the knife away from him and hit him to the floor.

Lee Gillespie's dead body was found in Church Street, High Wycombe.

"The people he was with were getting closer. I held the knife up to them and I said 'stay back'."

He claimed that Mr Gillespie then started running towards Willis, brandishing a needle.

He said: "I thought I'd be stabbed with a dirty needle. I struck him [with the knife]."

Stanislaus said he thought he had hit out at Mr Gillespie twice, but accepted it may have been more.

He picked up the case the knife had been sheathed in, saying he could not carry it in his shorts without it.

Stanislaus said he picked up the case to "err on the side of caution" after threats against him and Willis were allegedly made by the rest of the group who had been with Mr Gillespie.

He and Burns ran back to the railway station in High Wycombe and caught a train back to his home, where he was arrested at 3am the following morning.

Stanislaus was asleep in bed at the time, with a knife under the bedsheets in case he was attacked, the court heard.

It was earlier alleged that Stanislaus, a builder, hid the weapon under his clothing using two pieces of string that allowed him to wear it in a similar way to a rucksack while making his way to the murder scene by train.

He first went to Willis’ home after a series of "babbling" phone calls and text messages to him.

Willis explained to Stanislaus about an earlier altercation with Mr Gillespie and that she had had some clothing stolen.

Before going to the churchyard, they went to Mr Gillespie’s flat, which Stanislaus told the court “looked like a crack den”.

Stanislaus, Willis, aged 36, and 38-year-old Burns, of Ealing, all deny murder and perverting the course of justice. Stanislaus also denies a charge of possessing a blade in public.

The trial was adjourned until Monday.