A former Brighton nurse told how he feared for his life as a knifeman stabbed his partner to death.
Chris Bevan said: “He screamed a couple of times because of the pain where he was stabbed.
“I started panicking because I thought he was going to chop us to bits.”
Mr Bevan described the man accused of his partner’s murder as manic looking.
“He had starey eyes, they were fixated,” said Mr Bevan, 57.
“It reminded me of when I worked in a psychiatric ward in Brighton. The police would bring in people at say 2am and they were all wild eyed.”
A jury at the Central Criminal Court – the Old Bailey in London – was shown a video interview with Mr Bevan yesterday in which he recalled the attack.
Mr Bevan’s partner, Gerry Edwards, 59, died after being stabbed repeatedly at the couple’s home in Page Heath Villas, Bickley, in the London borough of Bromley.
Mr Bevan, who comes from Swansea originally, suffered two collapsed lungs, numerous knife wounds and had to have his spleen removed.
He remained in a critical condition in hospital for months after the attack in March and has not fully recovered.
He said that he was on his way down the stairs at the home he shared with his partner of 18 years.
“I heard a terrible scream coming from the kitchen,” said Mr Bevan.
He said that the attacker was an intruder who ordered the men to lie next to each other on the kitchen floor.
“He was saying lie down or I’ll kill you,” said Mr Bevan.
The attacker stabbed Mr Edwards with a 7in knife before sticking the knife into Mr Bevan’s stomach.
He said: “I wanted to scream the place down but there was nobody to help us.
“I remember the pain. It was as if my body was being ripped apart.
“At that stage I didn’t know Gerry had died. I thought I could help him. I thought I must get out to get help.”
He ended up crawling to a neighbour’s home and collapsed before help could arrive.
Mr Edwards died at the scene.
David Kilcullen was arrested the day after the attacks, when he confessed to the stabbing.
Kilcullen, 46, of The Avenue, Bickley, claimed to have acted in self-defence when the victims tried to sexually assault him.
He denies murder and attempted murder.
The trial continues.
