A man at the centre of a murder trial was today he

A man at the centre of a murder trial was today heard on
tape expressing his sorrow for a fatal stabbing which left a
teenager fatherless.

The Southwark Crown Court jury sat in silence for more than
two hours while a recorded police interview with Victor Chambers was
played to them.

In it Chambers, a scaffolder, is heard describing his version
of the tragic sequence of events leading to the death of Ken Thorn.

He tells police: ‘I didn’t mean to hurt him.

‘I feel sorry for
the boy’ (a reference to the dead man’s son).

Chambers is said to have stabbed the deceased three times
in front of Mr Thorn’s 16-year-old son, Nigel, at his home on July 20,
1992.

He admits the stabbing but denies commiting murder on the
grounds he did not intend to kill his common-law-wife former lover.

In the interview, Chambers told the police how he became
alarmed after receiving a threatening telephone call from Mr Thorn
minutes before the attack.

He claims at the time of the call he was making a sandwich
with the knife, which later caused the fatal injuries.

On the tape he is heard to say: ‘Seconds after the call I
heard banging on the door, then there was a crash and he (Thorn)
was in the house.

‘I ran upstairs and grabbed the knife from the table to
try to stop him from coming in.

‘As I come down the stairs, he hits me, and traps me in a
corner.

‘He keeps pounding me with punches.

‘
Chambers then recalls stabbing Mr Thorn twice.

‘I don’t know what happened.

I didn’t want to hurt him, I
just wanted to keep him out.

‘
He adds: ‘I thought the boy knew what happened.

‘
That last remark was a reference to the fact that Nigel
Thorn had not at first realised his father had been stabbed.

Giving evidence Nigel told the jury that he was not aware
of what had happened until he was shown the stab wounds on his
father’s body.

He also said he never saw the knife.

The trial continues.

ends