Jury in Rhuddlan 'snowball' murder trial sent home

Oliver Taylor armed himself with a kitchen knife, the court heard

A jury trying a man accused of stabbing his neighbour to death after a snowball fight has been sent home for the night.

Anthony Burke, 20, from Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, died last Christmas Eve after a stab wound to the stomach.

Oliver Taylor, 19, denies murder, claiming he was holding a knife because he wanted to scare away a group of people holding bottles.

Judge John Rogers QC summed up the case and sent the jury out on Wednesday. Deliberations will continue Thursday.

Mr Taylor has told the jury he had been having a quiet evening at home with his girlfriend on 23 December, 2009, when he heard a group shouting.

He said he was "scared" because the group had bottles and some - in particular Mr Burke - were trying to grab him, so he went into his house and emerged with a knife.

He told the jury: "I wanted to scare them away."

The court heard how Anthony Burke was swinging around a sharp object, a piece of glass or a knife, and had tried to get Mr Taylor in a head-lock.

He denied deliberately chasing and killing Mr Burke.

Mr Burke had been drinking with friends and the group had a snowball fight at about 2230 GMT on 23 December.

He died in hospital in the early hours of Christmas Eve.

The prosecution claim: "It was a deliberate stabbing, there was no struggle or scuffle and Mr Burke immediately fell to the ground bleeding from his wound."