Simon Birch killing: Adam Jenkins says he tried to help

A man accused of murdering a guest at his family’s Christmas Day celebrations said he tried to help the victim after stabbing him.

Simon Birch, 39, was stabbed in the neck at the home of Adam Jenkins in Newbottle, Sunderland, at about 23:20 GMT on 25 December 2021.

Mr Jenkins, 35, has denied murder and manslaughter, at Newcastle Crown Court.

He told police he could not recall inflicting the blow but took his top off to try and stem the bleeding.

Jurors have been told Mr Birch was forced out of the house after attacking Ms Jenkins on Christmas Day. Her brother, Mr Jenkins, then ran at Mr Birch in the driveway and fatally stabbed him in the neck in an attack that was caught on CCTV.

The court heard that Mr Jenkins was originally arrested on suspicion of assault at his home about 15 minutes after the attack, but when he got to the police station at 00.25 on Boxing Day he was re-arrested on suspicion of murder.

Jurors were shown body-worn camera footage of Mr Jenkins bursting into tears after saying: “Murder? Is he dead? No way.”

In his police interview conducted at about 16:30 on Boxing Day, Mr Jenkins said he had been in a “state of shock” when he made the comments to police, that what had happened had been “horrible” and Mr Birch had been “family”.

He also said he had been drunk and when asked if he had assaulted Mr Birch, he replied: “Not that I’m aware of, definitely not. If [anything] it was the other way round.”

Mr Jenkins said he had been in bed when he heard that Mr Birch was attacking Ms Jenkins.

He said he went downstairs and saw Mr Birch “punching” Ms Jenkins then grabbing Mr Jenkins’s partner Natalie Shaw, pulling her on to the settee.

Mr Jenkins said he went to help his partner and the next thing he knew Mr Birch was on top of him.

“I don’t know what happened, he must have been laying into me,” Mr Jenkins told police, adding his recollection was “hazy”.

He said the two men got pulled apart and he went outside to see Mr Birch in the driveway.

“He came towards [me],” Mr Jenkins said, adding the next thing he could remember was his partner screaming “help, help”.

Asked by the officers what he did next, Mr Jenkins replied: “Then I helped.”

He took his top off and tried to give CPR until paramedics and police arrived about 10 minutes after being called.

Jurors also heard Mr Birch had been arguing with another guest several hours before the fatal encounter.

Darren Naisbett, the partner of Mr Jenkins’s mother, said the day had been “really good” with the family enjoying a Christmas dinner together before everyone went to the bar in the garden to play games, sing karaoke and drink.

But at about 21:00, he had a short confrontation with Mr Birch in the bar, the court heard.

He said Mr Birch, who was known as Birchy, was drunk and had been “coming on with the big I am” and Mr Naisbett told him to stop as he was “spoiling the day for everyone”.

He told jurors he had seen Mr Birch behave that way before and the two briefly squared up to each other before Mr Jenkins’s partner intervened and calmed it down.

Mr Naisbett said Mr Birch had been in a “funny mood all day” and had been “bickering” with Ms Jenkins.

He did not see the attack in the driveway but found Ms Jenkins crying in the kitchen shortly after and saw that her head and face were “covered in blood”.