A WOMAN sobbed in the witness stand as she described the moment she saw her childhood sweetheart being stabbed to death outside their Aldershot home.

Pauline Blastland said she heard the words "stab him, stab him up" before seeing a man plunge a knife into her partner's back, as he fought to get on his feet after being hit with a crowbar.

Miss Blastland was the first witness to give evidence in the trial of Stephen Stewart and William Stewart, who are both accused of murdering 45-year-old Andrew Rickwood on July 20 last year. The defendants - aged 43 and 24, and both of Lancer Court, Aldershot - deny the charge.

There was a heavy police presence at Winchester Crown Court for the second day of the trial on Tuesday, due to the acrimonious history between the two families involved.

Miss Blastland, who had been in a relationship with Mr Rickwood for 29 years, told the court the Stewarts turned up unannounced at their home in Basing Drive at around 3am.

She said she was woken by the sound of Mr Rickwood's voice, talking to two people at the window.

She told the court she got out of bed and saw Stephen Stewart, who was stood with William, calling her name.

"He was saying 'Pauline, Pauline, Pauline... I think you better phone the police'.

"His voice did not seem right. It was said in a sarcastic way. I could tell something bad was going to happen."

'Fight like men'

Miss Blastland described how Mr Rickwood went outside to meet the two men and asked her to wake up their eldest son, Ciaran, who was 21 at the time.

She also went outside into their back yard, from where she said she saw the two defendants driving away in a white van.

But the court heard the pair stopped halfway up the road and got out of the vehicle again.

Miss Blastland said she then went up to the bedroom to get her mobile phone and call the police, but she dropped it and the battery fell out.

At the time, she said the four men were standing in the street "toing and froing and arguing".

Miss Blastland told jurors she could see what appeared to be a knife in William Stewart's hand and heard Mr Rickwood say "drop your weapons and we will fight like men".

But before she had a chance to call the police again, her partner had been attacked, she said.

Air rifle

"All of a sudden, Billy and Stephen got nearer to Ciaran and Andy and they started coming backwards.

"Then Andy went down, maybe he lost his balance or something, but he was on the floor.

"I saw Steve with something in his hand come down to strike Andy.

"I did not actually see it hit him, because he was behind the car, but I saw his hand come back up again and go down.

"I do not know how to describe it, but I could tell there was going to be damage done. And there was."

The prosecution allege Mr Rickwood was hit over the head with a crowbar by Stephen Stewart, which fractured his skull.

Miss Blastland said she could see Mr Rickwood's feet and could tell he was trying to get up.

The stabbing happened when Mr Rickwood was defenceless

William Mousley QC, prosecuting

"I then heard shouting. I can't remember exactly what, but I heard 'stab him' or 'stab him up' about two or three times," she told the court.

"I saw Billy going towards where Andy was lying and he went into him as if he had something in his hand."

The prosecution allege it was William Stewart who dealt the final blow with a fatal stabbing.

Miss Blastland said she then saw her son hit Stephen Stewart with some sort of bat, before the two defendants got back into their van and drove off.

In cross-examination, Elizabeth Marsh QC, representing Stephen Stewart, suggested to Miss Blastland that her partner had gone outside with a gun.

Her son, Ciaran, had been armed with a bat too, which caused the two defendants to run back to their van the first time and get weapons, she said.

Miss Marsh also said Stephen Stewart had asked Mr Rickwood to "put his shooter down".

The jury was shown an air rifle belonging to the Rickwood family, measuring about 3ft in length, which was found in a nearby alleyway after the incident.

Miss Blastland said she had not seen Mr Rickwood or her son with a gun, but had seen Ciaran with some sort of bat.

'Terrible injuries'

During the first day of the trial on Monday, prosecutor William Mousley QC said Mr Rickwood suffered a six-inch stab wound that punctured his lung.

"That stabbing to the back happened at a time when Mr Rickwood was defenceless," Mr Mousley told the court.

"The defendants were acting together and intended to kill or cause serious harm to Andrew Rickwood.

"Having inflicted these terrible injuries and left Mr Rickwood in the street, the defendants drove away together before each tried to cover their tracks."

Mr Rickwood was pronounced dead at Frimley Park Hospital, and Mr Mousley told the court that police "moved swiftly into action".

A white van was recovered by police outside the Stewarts' home, jurors heard, and inside was a crowbar with blood on both ends matching the DNA of Mr Rickwood.

Officers then arrested Stephen Stewart on suspicion of murder later the same morning, while William Stewart was arrested that evening at an address in Waterlooville.

The court was told both defendants had been washing clothes but police still identified blood stains on the outfits.

The trial continues.

For more on this story, see this week's Aldershot News & Mail, out on Friday, February 10.

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