Murder accused carried knife to pub, court told

Stephanie Langley is accused of murdering her former brother-in law Matthew Bryant

A woman accused of stabbing her former brother-in-law three times has told jurors she drank whisky before carrying a kitchen knife from her car to the Maidstone pub where the man died.

Matthew Bryant was pronounced dead as he lay in the street in front of the Hare and Hounds pub last September.

Stephanie Langley, from East Farleigh, denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter in the ongoing trial at Maidstone Crown Court.

Asked how much whisky she drank, Miss Langley said she took “as much as I could” as she drove towards Maidstone East station.

“I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing,” she told the court.

Defence counsel John Cooper KC asked how the knife got in her car. Miss Langley said she put it behind the passenger seat after it fell from a rubbish bag while emptying the contents of the bag into a wheelie bin.

The court heard how Miss Langley could be seen in pictures holding the knife in her right hand and raising her arm before Matthew Bryant was killed.

She told the court she did not remember doing so, but said she accepted the images were accurate.

Earlier, the defendant told the jury that Matthew Bryant had a history of violence and had threatened to harm or rape her daughter.

She said she took the knife with her to defend herself and her daughter.

“The knife was coming with me as a clear warning that he wasn’t going anywhere near Holly. I would protect her. He would have to come through me first.

"I was terrified at the time, facing up to someone I knew was so violent.”

Prosecutor Nina Ellin KC questioned Miss Langley's temperament and said: “I’m going to suggest you have a short fuse and you do lose your temper easily.”

Miss Langley replied: “I do not.”

Ms Ellin said to her: “You also hold a grudge."

The defendant replied: “I don’t hold a grudge. There’s always history - history that eats away at you."

The trial continues.