Sam Cook murder trial: Victim's girlfriend 'knew he'd gone'

Sam Cook took two steps back and collapsed, his girlfriend told police

The girlfriend of a man who was stabbed through the heart while celebrating his 21st birthday broke down in tears as she told police how she watched him die, a court heard.

Sam Cook was attacked following a row in a Liverpool city centre nightclub.

Carl Madigan, 23, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court saw a recording of Lottie Owen telling police how her boyfriend "went grey in the face and his lips went blue".

She added: "It was traumatic. I was having a panic attack as I knew he'd gone. He was unresponsive."

Ms Owen was interviewed two days after the attack, which happened at Empire Bar in Seel Street on 21 October 2017.

Sam Cook was stabbed at Empire Bar in Liverpool city centre

She told police she had taken a line of cocaine given to her in the club by her boyfriend, but said this had no effect on her ability to recollect what had happened, the jury heard.

Towards the end of the interview she could no longer hold back tears, telling the detective: "This is very hard."

She said she and Mr Cook went to the bar at about 23:00 GMT where they and friends had booked booths at the Dojo bar in the basement.

When the couple made their way along a crowded dance floor a man now known to be Louis Langfield, a friend of Carl Madigan's, barged into her, the jury heard.

A row ensued and another man joined in, the court heard.

'Knife hidden in sock'

Ms Owen told police one of the men pushed her away and vodka from a glass went into her eyes.

When her eyes cleared she saw Mr Cook take two steps back and collapse, the jury heard.

The court heard she thought he had been punched and knocked out, but people began saying he had been stabbed.

The jury was also shown video footage of Mr Madigan, of Adam Close, Garston, tending to his ankle as he left an apartment in Liverpool earlier in the evening.

The prosecution claim he had hidden a knife - stolen from the apartment's kitchen - in his sock.

The trial continues.