Murder accused claims he was attacked with hammer

A man accused of murder told his trial the alleged victim attacked him with a hammer in the moments before his death.

Kevin Horswill, 51, denies fatally strangling Richard Langley, 52, during a fight at Mr Langley's home in Thaxted, Essex, in March 2024.

Giving evidence at Chelmsford Crown Court, Mr Horswill said: "I was scared I was going to be killed" by Mr Langley, whose wife found him dead in their garden.

Mr Horswill, of Magdalen Green in the town, said he could not explain how Mr Langley was strangled, adding he was "shocked, horrified" to hear of his death.

The jury has been told Mr Langley's own clothing was used to strangle him in the early hours of 18 March.

Mr Horswill said he went to Mr Langley's house in Orchard Close to "remonstrate with him" about an altercation at The Star pub earlier that night.

"I was upset at the time but to say that I was angry – no. At the point things were happening in the pub yes, I was angry," the defendant told the court.

Police were called to Mr Langley's home after his wife found him dead in their garden

Mr Horswill claimed Mr Langley pulled him on to his property and assaulted him with a hammer, causing him to become "severely injured".

He added: "I was being smashed round the head with a tool while trying to escape on all fours.

"We obviously had a struggle because I was trying to pull him down to my level... I controlled him by using my arms across his chest."

Mr Horswill accepted his "bearhug" caused Mr Langley to become unconscious but stressed it was an "act of self-defence".

Asked by Benjamin Aina KC, defending, if he intended to kill Mr Langley, Mr Horswill answered: "Not at all. I had to defend myself; I was scared I was going to be killed."

CCTV footage showed Mr Horswill, right, walking to the home of Mr Langley, left, before his death

During cross-examination, prosecutor Andrew Jackson said the defendant "let [his] anger fester" after the pub altercation.

Mr Jackson said a Home Office pathologist deemed it "implausible" that Mr Langley had been strangled accidentally, saying he suffered "15 seconds of sustained compression".

"How did that happen?," Mr Jackson asked the defendant.

Mr Horswill replied: "I have no idea. I accept that he was strangled somehow; I don't accept it was me that strangled him."

The trial continues.