A dad stabbed to death outside a village pub was killed in “an act of aggression” after a phone row escalated from “friendly banter” to a gun-wielding confrontation.
Painter and decorator Adam Pritchard suffered fatal blood loss when a knife grabbed from the kitchen of The Queen’s Head in Boughton-under-Blean was plunged almost 23cm through his ribs by William Cosier, who is accused of murder.
Mr Pritchard, who was 35 and lived with his partner and their two children in Faversham, had only been at the venue for approximately five minutes when he was knifed shortly before 10.40pm on March 13 this year.
Cosier, who is known as Billy, had been at the venue since lunchtime, drinking lager and whisky as well as snorting cocaine.
CCTV captured the moment the 34-year-old armed himself with the blade and went outside to where Mr Pritchard, who had a BB gun, was “beckoning”, Canterbury Crown Court heard.
Cosier later told police that his brain was “scrambled” and he had knifed Mr Pritchard to stop “multiple” shots being fired at his head, face and body.
But jurors were told that although it is not “precisely” known when the fatal stabbing wound occurred or when the gun was discharged, it was the prosecution case that Cosier had not acted in self-defence and that his intent that night was to cause “at the minimum” really serious harm “if not to kill” the victim.
Cosier, of Well Lane, Canterbury, denies murder as well as the alternative charge of manslaughter.
Opening the trial today (September 17), prosecutor Don Ramble explained how Cosier had been at The Queen’s Head in The Street, with another man, Craig Brabon.
Mr Brabon had been a close friend of Mr Pritchard’s but the pair were said to have fallen out.
That evening they had been communicating via texts and calls, with the victim, a gym enthusiast, also sending a photograph of himself flexing his muscles.
The prosecutor said their contact veered between “friendly banter and more aggressive” conversations and, at one stage, Mr Brabon had given his phone to Cosier so he could speak to Mr Pritchard.
CCTV showed him “walking and talking” on the handset in the bar area and outside, and it was their argument, said Mr Ramble, that ultimately led to Mr Pritchard showing up at the pub at 10.34pm.
Having been driven there by a friend, Leigh Bean, he was captured on camera entering the front door of The Queen’s Head and going straight up to Cosier.
The two men exchanged a number of punches and Cosier, himself a heavily-built man, also picked up a stool.
Mr Pritchard then walked back out onto the pavement to where just moments later he was stabbed.
Describing the build-up in those minutes, the prosecutor told the court: “He (Adam Pritchard) beckoned Billy Cosier to come outside and that is what he did. He went outside to where Adam Pritchard was.
“But before going outside, he went into the pub kitchen and he grabbed a knife. Ultimately, after he went outside, he stabbed Adam Pritchard with the knife.
“Adam Pritchard, in turn, shot the defendant with the BB gun. Both of them suffered injuries as a result.
“But while Billy Cosier was able to get in his car and drive away, Adam Pritchard died shortly afterwards, having sustained a stabbing injury.”
Mr Pritchard had initially tried to go back into the pub before he was seen on camera walking along The Street and even talking to Mr Brabon before being put into Mr Bean’s Peugeot with the intention of taking him to hospital.
But the court heard an ambulance heading to the scene was then intercepted and, despite attempts by paramedics, Mr Pritchard was declared dead at the roadside just after midnight.
The gun, which he had held in his hand against his bleeding wound, was found in the car.
Cosier, having driven off in his Mercedes, attended a police station later that day and was arrested on suspicion of murder.
In a prepared statement, he told officers that Mr Brabon had been “shouting and arguing” on the phone and, when it was handed to him, Mr Pritchard had branded him “that little fat b******”.
Cosier, who revealed he had had about six pints of San Miguel, some whisky and five or six “pinches” of coke, told police he had “heard of” Mr Pritchard and that he had “a reputation for violence”.
He added that on arrival Mr Pritchard was shouting from the car park and “wasn’t going away” so, having taken the knife from the kitchen, Cosier said he went outside. He could not recall a fist fight, the jury was told.
It was there, he claimed, that Mr Pritchard initially pointed at the gun under his shirt before taking it out and “waving and pointing” it at him.
Cosier stated: “He was jumping up and down. He seemed to be on drugs. He was going mad… because he was pointing a gun at me, I retreated into the pub.
“Adam Pritchard was still shouting: ‘Come outside or I’ll come in.’.”
Cosier said he still had the knife and “lots of thoughts” were going through his head. These included Mr Pritchard shooting into the pub or chasing after him with the weapon.
“My brain was scrambled, I was frightened, I was under the influence,” he continued, before adding he believed going outside was “the only way” to protect himself and others.
It was at this point, he said, that he was fired at.
“I went out. He [Adam Pritchard] shot me multiple times. I must have turned away at some point because I was shot in the back and neck,” stated the defendant.
“He also shot me four or five times in the face and arm. He shot me continually and I remember stabbing him to stop him shooting me.”
The court heard that before Mr Pritchard had arrived at the pub, Cosier had been seen in the kitchen taking a red-handled knife, only for it to be retrieved by staff.
Shortly before 10.20pm, he was successful in taking a green-handled knife and tucking it into the back of his jeans.
But, having then placed it on an outside table, it was returned to the kitchen by another customer.
Mr Prtichard had already left the pub when Cosier was seen taking the knife he was to use in the stabbing. It had a yellow handle and was never recovered.
The commotion in the street was seen and heard by several people, and a recording made by one was said by the prosecution to have captured Cosier stating “I’ll kill you, you’re dead” as Mr Pritchard revealed he was bleeding.
The court heard Cosier was himself injured and had to have several metal pellets from the gun removed at hospital.
But Mr Ramble told the jury: “The prosecution case is that Billy Cosier was not acting in self-defence and his intention at minimum was to cause grievous bodily harm, if not to kill.”
Referring to CCTV footage from a nearby shop showing the immediate aftermath of the stabbing and Mr Pritchard walking away from the pub, the prosecutor added: “The Crown is not in a position to say precisely when the fatal stab wound took place. The Crown is not in a position to say precisely when the BB gun was discharged.
“But we say if you look at the footage, it is William Cosier who is going towards Adam Pritchard, and it is Adam Pritchard who is retreating.”
Mr Ramble continued: “The prosecution case is that when Billy Cosier walked out of The Queen’s Head pub with the knife behind his back, he was not acting in self-defence. He stabbed Adam in an act of aggression. He was acting in an aggressive way.
“In relation to intent, what other intent could he have had when he plunges that knife almost to the handle, and what other intent could he have than causing grievous bodily harm.”
The trial continues and is expected to last up to three weeks.
