Snapchat murder accused 'obsessed' with knives, court hears

Kyle Walley was stabbed at his home in Rhosymedre, Wrexham

A man on trial for murdering his friend by stabbing him through the heart at his flat in Wrexham, had an "obsession" with knives, a court has heard.

Kyle Walley, 19, died on the kitchen floor of his home in Rhosymedre, Wrexham, in July 2021. 

Mark Harley Jones, 20, posted video filmed just before and after the attack on the social media platform Snapchat, the jury at Mold Crown Court was told.

He has admitted killing Mr Walley but denies murder.

The footage shows Mr Jones, of Chester Road in Wrexham, drinking cider and bourbon at Mr Walley's flat, and making stabbing motions towards Mr Walley while his back was turned.

He also posted videos from the flat saying he was "thinking of stabbing someone up right now".

Messages from Mr Jones to Mr Walley, later recovered from Mr Walley's phone, were sent the day before his death.

'Always holding knives'

They included an image of the defendant with a cartoon knife and the message: "I'm going to stab you up tomorrow."

The prosecution said Mr Jones was "contemplating and imagining stabbing" Kyle Walley and "could not have made his intentions any clearer".

Mr Jones had gone to Kyle Walley's flat on his bike to watch the Euro 2021 football final between England and Italy.

But before the game had even started, Mr Walley was dead. 

Prosecutor John Philpotts said that a friend of Kyle Walley, Attia Jones, who was on the phone with Mr Walley that day, heard him shouting "put the knife down".

She then heard screaming, and Mr Jones shouting that he was sorry, and "it's my ADHD".

The court was also shown videos, which were posted online, including one of Mr Walley lying dead while the defendant kicked him, and stamped on him, yelling at him.

Other footage recorded outside the flat showed the defendant holding up his bloodstained hands to the camera saying he had "stabbed up" Mr Walley and was "going to do time".

Mr Philpotts told the jury a friend of Mr Jones, Harry Meadows, saw the videos on Snapchat when he got home from work that day, and called the police.

He told the jury they would also hear from Mr Meadows that this was not the first time he had seen Mr Jones with knives and that he "always seemed to be holding knives".

He had sent Mr Meadows a video before Mr Walley's death, where he was holding a knife and saying he was going to kill him, but the witness did not take it seriously.

Examination of Mr Jones' phone after his arrest revealed he had been searching material about knives and purchasing them. 

Mr Philpotts said he was "obsessed with knives and stabbing someone".

"The stabbing of Kyle Walley was an incident waiting to happen," he said. 

The trial at Mold Crown Court continues.