Peterborough murder accused tells jury he picked up knife before stabbing ‘because he was scared’

Daniel Szalasny (22) of Princes Gardens in Eastfield, Peterborough died after being stabbed by Bradley Plavecz outside a home in Crown Street in Peterborough in May last year.

Plavecz (20) of Arkwright Way, Gunthorpe, has admitted carrying out the stabbing, which saw Mr Szalasny suffer six stab wounds, including a fatal wound to the heart.

Plavecz denies murder.

Yesterday (Thursday) Plavecz was asked about the moments leading up to the stabbing.

He said he had been in the kitchen of the home when he had picked up the knife from the sink.

When asked by prosecutor John Farmer why he had picked up the knife, he replied ‘because I was scared.’

Mr Farmer asked him what he planned to do with the knife once he had picked it up.

Plavecz replied: “I didn’t know. I had no thoughts, no intentions. There were no thoughts going through my head.”

Mr Farmer replied; “That would be nonsense, equipping it for no reason.”

Plavecz said; “It is not nonsense, I had no thoughts.”

The jury have been shown CCTV footage of the incident, which shows the moment the incident occurred.

A few moments before the stabbing, the footage showed Mr Szalasny punching Plavecz to the head.

When asked if he remembered being punched, Plavecz said he did, but he had ‘blacked out’ afterwards.

Mr Farmer said; “So you have no remembrance of stabbing him?”

Plavecz replied: “Yes, that is right.”

Mr Farmer said: “So you have no idea what you intended by stabbing him.”

Plavecz said; “I had no intention to stab him.”

Mr Farmer replied: “You are in no position to say that, if you can’t remember. Is that right?”

Plavecz said; “yes.”

Plavecz had preciously told the court he had been smoking cannabis that night, and also taken ‘a line of cocaine,’ as well as drinking alcohol. He said on a rating from 0-10 of drunkeness - with - being sober - he was at a level of 6.

After the stabbing, he said he had ran, and had thrown the knife into a bush.

He later handed himself in to police where he was arrested.

The court has also been told Plavecz’s previous convictions, including one for robbery and possession of a knife in December 2018. He had received a four year prison sentence for the robbery.

When asked about the details of the offence, Plavecz said he could not remember why he had taken a knife with him, how big the knife was, what he had done with the knife, how he had committed the robbery, or what he had robbed.

Plavecz said: “I’ve got previous, yeah. It proves that I carried a weapon, but I did not carry a weapon that night (the night of the stabbing last year).

Opening the case, prosecutor John Farmer told the court that while Plavecz accepted stabbing Mr Szalasny, he denied murder, with evidence set to be heard tomorrow looking at the defendant’s ADHD, and how it would affect his self control.

The trial continues.