A jury heard that a pizza delivery man from Whitehaven stabbed an Elvis Presley impersonator he feared was going to kidnap him.
The court was told that Mark Appleton, 23, feared he was about to be kidnapped over a drugs debt.
Entertainer Paul Anthony Cameron needed emergency surgery after the knife perforated his bowel.
Appleto admitted inflicting the wound but insisted that he was acting in self-defence at Carlisle Crown Court.
He denies intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cameron and a second charge of possessing an offensive weapon – the vegetable knife he used – in a public place.
Prosecutor Andrew Ford said the alleged victim in the case, who works as an Elvis impersonator in clubs, would not be giving evidence.
“But you will see his belly – in photographs: he was stabbed,” said Mr Ford.
He outlined how the stabbing happened at around 4pm on January 19 outside the defendant’s home in Snebro Road, Whitehaven.
Mr Cameron arrived there in his Ford Mondeo to collect a debt, which Appleton said had accrued because the impersonator was his drug supplier, selling him plant food.
After coming to the door, Appleton agreed to get into Mr Cameron’s car, where they immediately discussed the debt that was owed. “The defendant could not produce the goods [the money], but he produced a blade and stabbed it into the abdomen of Mr Cameron,” the barrister said.
At first, he thought he had been punched but then saw a knife sticking out of his midriff through his coat. Mr Cameron was taken to hospital at 10pm that evening after he began to feel unwell.
But immediately after the incident, said Mr Ford, Appleton’s mother Charmaine rang the police, telling them: “There’s just been some drug dealers down to my house after my son and he’s panicked and took a knife out and tried to jab the fellow.”
She said Appleton told her to call the police, and that Mr Cameron chased and threatened to kill her son.
Appleton told police – who agreed he was co-operative – that Cameron had visited to collect a debt of about £450 owed for supplying the illegal substance known as “meow meow.”
In his evidence, Appleton said Mr Cameron appeared “shifty” and “aggressive” when he spoke to him on his doorstep. “He just looked mad,” he told the jury, saying he decided to get into the car because he did not want his mother to get hurt.
He said Mr Cameron had been his supplier and had been friendly at first, and agreed to give him drugs – mainly plant food – on a loan basis. “If I wasn’t able to make the payment, he would usually threaten or offer me some sort of violence,” he said.
Appleton said Mr Cameron had told him he took debtors for “little drives” “They would then pay up after what happened on the little drives,” said Appleton.
On the day of the incident, he said, when he got in the car, Mr Cameron shouted at him, asking for the money and saying some “lads” wanted to see him now.
Appleton said: “He said: ‘You’re coming with me. The lads want to see you now.’”
Appleton said he began to get out of the car as Mr Cameron started to drive off, but he lunged with the knife as the other man grabbed him.
He said he feared he would be kidnapped, adding: “I was just trying to get away from the car. I was scared. I wasn’t intent on causing him harm at all. I wanted to get away from the situation.
“I thought my legs and arms could have been broken; I could have been hospitalised. I could have been in imminent danger to my life.” He acted in self-defence, he said.
The case continues.
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