Teenager, 18, 'was stabbed through the heart with a knife by his own girlfriend after "squabble" broke out while they were walking their dog'

An 18-year-old was stabbed through the heart with a knife by his girlfriend after a 'squabble' broke out while they were walking their dog, a court has heard.

Kieran Brown died 40 minutes after he arrived at hospital on June 1 and his partner Ellie Wain, also 18, stands accused of his murder in Willenhall, Coventry.

The couple and one of Wain's relatives had a row in the street near their flat in Middle Ride before the alleged stabbing, the court heard.

Wain went into the flat and returned with a 'big knife' hidden in her clothing which she allegedly used to stab Mr Brown three times.

Wain, of London Road, Coventry, denied the charge of murder on Thursday at Coventry Crown Court.

Kieran Brown , 18, was stabbed through the heart with a knife by his girlfriend Ellie Wain , also 18, after a 'squabble' broke out while they were walking their dog in Willenhall, Coventry, a court has heard

The jury was told that one of the three stab wounds to Mr Brown was 12cm deep and pierced his heart.

Kevin Hegarty QC said: 'Just after 10pm on June 1 this year, a young man called Kieran Brown was admitted to University Hospital here in Coventry.

'He had been stabbed and within 40 minutes of arriving at hospital he had been declared dead.

'Kieran Brown had been living with the defendant, Ellie Wain, at a flat just off St James Lane, in a side road called Middle Ride.

'They seemed attached to each other and had been going out together and living together on and off for quite some time.

'At times they would argue and it was not unusual for neighbours to hear them arguing, and more often than not they would hear Ellie Wain.'

Mr Hegarty told the jury of eight women and four men that at around 8.20pm on June 1, the young couple had taken their dog for a walk along with a neighbour, who was also a relative of Wain.

'They were out for a little over an hour and during that time they - that is Kieran Brown and Ellie Wain - started to squabble,' the prosecutor said.

Emergency services had dashed to a house in Middle Ride in Willenhall, Coventry, at 10.10pm on June 1, to discover Kieran in a pool of blood

'During that time Ellie Wain told her relative that she was going to "chin" Kieran Brown.

'When they got back from the walk, a row developed and she told Kieran Brown that she wanted nothing more to do with him.'

The jury was told that Mr Brown wanted to get some clothes from the ground-floor flat before going to his dad's home, but Wain refused this request.

Mr Hegarty said Mr Brown 'made out as if he was going to punch Wain but punched his own hand', before Wain went in to the flat alone.

Ellie Wain, pictured left, from Coventry, was yesterday charged with the murder of Kieran Brown, pictured right, and appeared before Coventry Magistrates Court this morning

'She chose a knife - a big knife,' said the prosecutor.

'Then she went outside the flat with the knife. She had the knife hidden in her clothing, probably tucked in to her leggings, but nobody saw it.

'She didn't show it to anyone.'

The court heard that Wain then told her relative that she had a knife and further stated that she had the knife 'ready' if 'anyone comes near me'.

Mr Brown had called his father to come and pick him up, and when the father arrived he heard his son say 'words to the effect' of 'if you want to get a knife and stab me then go ahead,' Mr Hegarty said.

The prosecutor said that Brown then approached his father's car and was followed by Wain, with the two being face-to-face by the front of the vehicle.

'Then she made a gesture towards him,' Mr Hegarty said.

'It was significantly dramatic, whatever it was, to cause Kieran Brown to jump back. He retreated very quickly.

'There was then a second movement by Ellie Wain towards Kieran Brown. The two of them then engaged and he got her down on to the ground.

'When down there he was restraining her and it appears he is hitting her. Once he punched her, he got off her and went back towards the car.'

Mr Hegarty said Wain 'went at him again' and there was another 'tussle' beside the passenger door with Wain 'lashing out at him'.

Ellie Wain went into the flat and returned with a 'big knife' hidden in her clothing which she allegedly used to stab Mr Brown three times, the court heard

At this point, a knife fell on to the passenger seat of the car and Mr Brown's father 'picked it up and threw it on to the back seat so no-one could get to it'.

The father and son then drove away from the scene and Kieran Brown said he had been stabbed and they went together to hospital, said Mr Hegarty.

The jury was shown a photograph of the alleged murder weapon, which Mr Hegarty described as 'fearsome', before telling them: 'It is our case that there was no reason, no lawful reason, for Ellie Wain to come down the garden path and in to the street.

'He was a kind, loving gentle person' 

Heartbroken family members previously paid tribute to Kieran in a statement released by West Midlands Police.

They said: 'Our family are devastated following the murder of Kieran our son, grandson, great grandson and nephew.

'He was a kind, loving gentle person. Kieran's life has been taken far too young and we are all trying to come to terms with what has happened.

'Kieran was always full of life and was never able to sit still for long. We would appreciate our privacy at this time.'

 

'She went directly towards Kieran Brown and she was inciting him to come at her, trying to get him to engage with her in a tussle in the street, and in the course of what then followed she used the knife on him.'

The court heard that one of the three stab wounds on Kieran Brown pierced his heart, with another also going in to his chest and another in to his left buttock.

After Kieran Brown had left the scene and subsequently gone to hospital with his father, Wain had called her own father to take her to his address in Coventry where she was arrested on suspicion of murder shortly before midnight.

Mr Hegarty said that when spoken to by police, Wain 'expressed disbelief and wanted to know why Kieran Brown had not been arrested for stabbing her'.

She had a 'small laceration on her abdomen', the prosecutor added.

The jury was also told that Wain claimed to have acted in self-defence and 'did not believe he was dead', and when officially interviewed by detectives she said his death had been an 'accident'.

Mr Hegarty said that Wain stated in interview that she 'had not gone out of the gate to the car at all, but CCTV shows that is not true'.

He added: 'How did she manage to push it (the knife) in to him by accident? How did she manage to pull it out again by accident?

'And how did she manage to stab him in the left buttock by accident and pull the knife out again by accident?'

Closing his speech, Mr Hegarty told the jury: 'Our case is if you go and choose a knife, a big knife, and then conceal it and go out with it and then use it to stab, not once but more than once, then you don't have it for any reason other than to kill or cause really, really serious harm.

'She killed him. It was murder.'

The trial continues.