Road rage maniac Kenneth Noye stabbed a motorist t

Road rage maniac Kenneth Noye stabbed a motorist to death in front of his horrified teenage fiancee and then grinned as he walked back to his car, the Old Bailey heard today (THURS).

Noye, 52, plunged a knife into Stephen Cameron’s chest twice on an M25 slip road in May 1996, the jury was told.

It came after he screeched to a halt in front of Mr Cameron’s partner Danielle Cable to complain about her bad driving.

As Mr Cameron, 21, lay dying in the road, smiling Noye sped off in his Land Rover Discovery and fled the country within hours, it is claimed.

Mr Cameron was rushed to hospital in Dartford, Kent, but died just 40 minutes later.

He had been stabbed through the heart and liver.

Noye was on the run for more than two years before being arrested at a restaurant in southern Spain, the court heard.

Prosecutor Julian Bevan, QC, said: ‘This stabbing was essentially borne of anger, and maybe pride also played a part.

‘Stephen Cameron was stabbed twice in the chest.

He was unarmed at the time, and he was empty-handed.

‘

‘His decision to get out of the van and deal with a potentially ugly situation cost him his life.

‘

The jury heard how the tragedy happened after property developer Noye and Mr Cameron clashed at Swanley, Kent, on May 19, 1996.

Noye was furious at 17-year-old Miss Cable’s driving, and cut in front of her red Rascal van on the slip-road before pulling up and getting out of his car.

As Noye walked towards the vehicle, Mr Cameron shook his head and jumped out to speak to him.

Mr Bevan said: ‘Noye had got out of his vehicle to remonstrate with the driver of the van behind him.

‘Why did he want to? The answer, we suggest, is a simple one: He was angry at the way in which that van had been driven.

‘

The pair traded punches at the roadside, and Noye – who was allegedly trying to open the van door to get at Miss Cable – eventually backed off as Mr Cameron got the better of him.

But other motorists then watched in horror as Noye went to his car, got a knife, and marched back towards the couple, the jury was told.

Mr Bevan said: ‘He returned to face Stephen Cameron with that knife in his hand.

‘When he came face to face with Stephen Cameron for the second time, Mr Cameron was still unarmed and empty-handed.

‘It also appears that by that time, Miss Cable had got out of the van and was trying to stop the fighting.

‘She was unsuccessful.

Once Noye had armed himself with the knife, he lunged a Stephen Cameron and stabbed him twice in the chest.

‘One motorist who saw the incident was also able to see the expression on Mr Noye’s face, and it appears that immediately following the stabbing Mr Noye smiled and then returned to his own vehicle.

‘

The jury was told that Noye sped off along the M25 towards the Dartford tunnel as Miss Cable and other motorists at the scene contacted the emergency services.

Mr Cameron was rushed to nearby Westhill Hospital, but was pronounced dead just 40 minutes after the incident.

Meanwhile, Noye was frantically trying to cover his tracks to stop police tracing the Land Rover Discovery back to him, the jury was told.

Mobile phone records show that, as he drove along the motorway, Noye made a ‘flurry’ of calls to both the man he bought the vehicle from and a house to where it was registered.

The following day, he flew out of Britain on a private helicopter wearing a flat cap and carrying a briefcase full of cash, the court heard.

After landing at a golf course in France, Noye stayed overnight before being taken to Madrid on board a private jet and then making his way south, it is claimed.

The jury was told the escape route, which began in the Bristol area, was arranged by an ‘acquaintance’ of Noye’s.

Police have never traced the Land Rover Discovery involved in the incident.

Mr Bevan told the jury that, the morning after the stabbing, a man paid pnds stlg 12,000 cash for a similar vehicle at a showroom in north London.

Although the man, whose name and address later turned out to be false, said he would return for the documents, he was not seen again.

Another witness claims they saw a Land Rover Discovery being driven to a breaker’s yard in Dartford – owned by a pal of Noye’s – also on the morning after the killing.

Police launched a massive manhunt for Noye, and eventually traced him to Barbate, south-west Spain, in August 1998.

He was identified by Miss Cable and arrested, but initially denied he had anything to do with the incident.

The jury was told that Noye now admits he was the person who stabbed Stephen Cameron, but claims he acted in self-defence.

Noye, of Uplands Way, Sevenoaks, Kent, denies murder.

The trial continues.

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