Llanelli: Man murdered with fishing knife outside home

Ashley Sarsero died outside his home after being stabbed by James Smith in September 2023

A man who stabbed his victim in the neck with a fishing knife has been found guilty of murder.

James Allan Smith, 36, of Nelson Road, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, had denied murdering Ashley Sarsero, 26, in the Maestir area of Felinfoel last September.

He stood trial for two weeks at Swansea Crown Court.

The jury returned a majority verdict of guilty for Smith.

Steven George Morgan, also 36 from Station Road, Llanelli, has denied a charge of assisting an offender, on which jury deliberations continue.

The court previously heard how Smith stabbed Mr Sarsero in the neck outside his home, "deliberately and without any justification".

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Michael Jones KC, prosecuting, said the pair argued in the early hours of 10 September, before the three men went outside and Smith produced a knife.

He stabbed Mr Sarsero in the neck, before fleeing the scene. Mr Morgan told Smith to "run, now" before calling an ambulance, the jury was told.

Mr Morgan was arrested at the scene, and Smith turned himself in at the police station the following day.

Smith admitted to having cocaine, diazepam and prescription anxiety drug Pregablin in his system when he met Mr Morgan at Penyfan quarry on the evening of 9 September.

The pair smoked cannabis and drank alcohol together before encountering Mr Sarsero's mother, Clare Richards, who had asked them to walk her back to her house as it was late and she was "alone and drunk".

The jury was told Mr Sarsero returned home, and asked who the two men were, before telling them to leave.

An argument broke out between him and Smith which spilled out in front of the property and Smith brandished the blade from his bag.

He claimed he "feared for his life" and didn't realise the weapon had hit Mr Sarsero.

After stabbing him in the neck, he fled from the scene.

Smith had bought a knife matching the description the day before the stabbing, the court heard.

In a tribute paid to Mr Sarsero shortly after his death, his family described him as a "beautiful, precious boy who would light up a room".