Bodmin murder trial: Jake Hill tells jury he was 'in state of fear'

Michael Riddiough-Allen, 32, died after he was stabbed on 30 April 2023

A man accused of murdering a rugby player outside a nightclub has told a jury he pulled out a knife after getting caught in a "stampede".

Michael Riddiough-Allen, 32, was stabbed to death outside Eclipse Nightclub in Bodmin in the early hours of 30 April 2023.

Jake Hill, 25, and Chelsea Powell, 22, both from Bodmin, were charged with murder.

Mr Hill told Truro Crown Court he was in a "state of fear" outside the club.

Giving evidence to the court under questioning from his barrister, he said he went over to a number of fights happening in the street to "see what was going on".

He told the jury more and more people joined the fight and he was punched in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"I tried to get up but I was being held down I didn't quite know by what or whom," Mr Hill said.

"I kept trying to get up maybe three or four times but I couldn't.

"I describe it like a stampede type of thing... I was in the middle of it, so I kept getting stood on.

"It was at that point I pulled out the knife.

"I couldn't get out of the group and I started to panic and I was in a state of fear."

Mr Hill said he waved the knife from left to right "no more than four times" and was not aware anyone had been injured at that time.

'Instantly overpowered'

CCTV footage shows Jake Hill, 25, and Chelsea Powell, 22, entering the club

After getting back to his feet, he told the court he was again punched in the face by another man, which prompted him to wave his knife.

"I was then grabbed, quite instantly overpowered, tried to run away, but I couldn't," he said.

"I was then in a struggle with someone on the floor."

CCTV footage played to the jury showed Mr Riddiough-Allen on the ground with Mr Hill.

Mr Hill said Mr Riddiough-Allen "fell on top of me" while he still had the knife in his hand.

He said: "We were rolling around on the floor - a couple of times to the left and a couple times to the right.

"I managed to get to my feet and I moved away."

Mr Hill said he accepted his knife caused the fatal injury to Mr Riddiough-Allen but he did not know when he became injured.

Asked whether he meant to kill him or cause serious harm, he replied: "Absolutely not."

Knife 'bought by chance'

The court earlier heard Mr Hill hid the knife in a hedge outside the club but retrieved it when he left

Mr Hill said he had bought the knife from a friend "completely by chance" a few days before going to the club because he liked the look of it.

It was used for "no specific purpose", he told the court.

The court earlier heard Mr Hill hid the knife in a hedge outside the club but retrieved it when he left.

The knife was hidden in an extractor fan moments before police came to arrest him at a home in Bodmin, jurors were told.

He said he also tried to flush the knife down a toilet.

"I began to panic, got a bit scared and didn't want to be arrested," he told the jury.

The trial continues.