Man 'stabbed partner 177 times'

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A man stabbed his partner 177 times with a kitchen knife before dialling 999 and telling the operator he had "just killed my missus," a jury heard.

Police rushed to Kim Butler's home in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, and found her dead and with a knife in her neck.

Arthur Pitt-Pladdy, aged 36, admits manslaughter but denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to mental illness.

The trial continues at Swansea Crown Court.

Paul Thomas QC told the jury that although Mr Pitt-Pladdy may have been addicted to heroin and alcohol he was sufficiently in control when he attacked Ms Butler, who was 44.

The prosecutor said Mr Pitt-Pladdy met her through a mutual friend after being released from jail and went to live with her at her flat.

You can imagine how long it would take to inflict one hundred and seventy seven stab and slash wounds Paul Thomas QC

He was later to tell police "she was not really my cup of tea" and that he used their relationship, which became sexual, to get a roof over his head.

Mr Thomas said Mr Pitt-Pladdy was abusive to her when in drink and only a week before her death Ms Butler had told friends he had threatened to kill her and her pet Labrador.

On 12 August 2008, he drank Jack Daniels and coke at the Captain's Table pub in Saundersfoot before making his way home.

Mr Thomas said only he knew what happened later but the occupant of the flat immediately upstairs woke about 0315 the following morning to hear noises downstairs.

She heard Ms Butler say "sorry" three times in succession, in what appeared to be a frightened voice, said the barrister.

She also heard "thumping" noises and a short while later Ms Butler again saying "sorry."

"You can imagine how long it would take to inflict 177 stab and slash wounds," said Mr Thomas.

Mr Pitt-Pladdy called police from a phone box in Saundersfoot

Mr Pitt-Pladdy walked to a nearby telephone kiosk and dialled 999.

The transcript was played for the jury.

Mr Pitt Pladdy could be heard saying: "I've just committed a murder."

The operator asked "Who have you killed?" to which he relied "My missus."

Police officers Richard James and Alex Jones arrived to find him still at the phone box drinking from a can of Special Brew.

Mr Thomas said the call, during which the defendant had even remembered to hyphenate his name, showed he was in control.

And statements he made after his arrest, showed that Mr Pitt-Pladdy had "strong recall" of what had happened, he added.

Alcohol dependency

In police interviews, and in statements submitted to the police, he was able to explain what had happened.

In one statement he said she had been nagging him and slapping him.

And in a letter to a friend written five days later, while Mr Pitt-Pladdy was on remand at Swansea prison charged with murder, he said he had been "purely evil".

He went on: "and now I'm going to pay for it for years.

"Please ask God to forgive me. I'm just saying sorry to everyone.

"I didn't just stab the poor girl once. I stabbed her a hundred times."

Mr Thomas told the jury: "He says he had alcohol dependency syndrome and that it represented such an abnormality of mind to substantially impair his responsibility.

"The prosecution says he was not suffering from a sufficient impairment of the mind.

"He had a drink problem but there is no evidence that it added up to an abnormality."

The trial continues.