A man accused of trying to kill his ex-partner and her daughter with a hammer and knife said he saw a “grim reaper like figure” moments before the attack, a court has heard.

Gerard Parkinson told the jury at Maidstone Crown Court he had hallucinated before striking Jennifer Higgins in her kitchen with a hammer and then going upstairs and attacking Nicole Higgins with the same weapon as well as a knife.

The attempted murder trial previously heard how Jennifer Higgins and her daughter were attacked at their home in Bonney Way, Swanley, on March 1, 2023.

Jennifer Higgins had been in the kitchen making a cup of tea and getting a chocolate bar to go with it when she felt a “thud” on the back of her head.

She collapsed and when she woke up couldn’t feel her arms or legs and thought she had suffered a stroke.

The court previously heard Parkinson then went upstairs allegedly armed with a knife and hammer and attacked her daughter Nicola as she slept.

But Parkinson disputes this version of events, alleging that on the morning of the attack he was involved in a conversation with the mother and daughter who had made “distressing” comments about him having previously asked him to leave the family home on several occasions.

He claims that on the morning of the attack, Jennifer Higgins told him: “You’re useless to me, you’re going to die soon.”

Parkinson also alleged Nicole Higgins stated: “Let’s bury the old b****** in the garden.”

The defendant said he was left feeling “overwhelmingly frightened” having allegedly been confronted by the victims on the morning of the attack.

He alleges Jennifer Higgins became upset with him after he denied her suggestion of buying a property in Cornwall, where her family would frequently visit on holiday.

Both mother and daughter denied any conversation took place. It is the prosecution’s case that Nicole Higgins was upstairs asleep and wasn’t near Parkinson when he woke up.

Giving evidence, 63-year-old Parkinson told the court how on the morning of the incident he was sleeping on the sofa of his ex-partner’s property when he allegedly woke up having “felt a heavy blow” to his head.

I looked through the glass and saw the patio pavement had been dug up like a grave

Parkinson claims he saw Ms Higgins walking towards the kitchen and one of his hammers on the coffee table next to him.

When questioned about what happened next, the Sidcup man, who had been in a relationship with the victim for around nine years, said he followed Ms Higgins towards the kitchen which is when he saw a “shadow” in the hallway.

He told the court: “I got up off the settee and was walking towards the hallway. I was overwhelmed with fear and I saw this figure in the hall. It was a shadowy figure.”

When asked by his defence counsel if the figure was a human, he replied: “No, it was like the grim reaper.”

Parkinson said the figure walked into the kitchen, so he followed, and pointed through the glass back door.

He added: “The figure pointed into the kitchen and pointed towards the glass door.

“I looked through the glass and saw the patio pavement had been dug up like a grave.”

Parkinson said the shadowy figure then pointed between Ms Higgins and himself as if to say “it is you or her” who will be in the grave.

The jury then heard he moved towards his first victim and struck her on the head. He doesn’t recall picking up the weapon but accepts he attacked her.

After the first attack, Parkinson says he was “beckoned” up the stairs by the shadow figure to Nicole Higgins’ room which was behind a closed door.

The defendant claims he opened the door where Nicole Higgins “jumped up immediately and said ‘I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you’.

When asked why he had a knife in his possession, Parkinson told the court it had been in his pocket “for weeks” as he often carved his own avocados to eat.

After making his way upstairs to Nicole Higgins room, the defendant accepts he attacked the woman but denies she was sleeping and that he intended to kill her.

She was covered in blood. He heard her say ‘He’s stabbed me’

During the incident, Ms Higgins managed to wrestle the hammer from him and struck him over the head herself.

“There was a very, very heavy impact,” Parkinson told the court. “And there was a sensation like being under brown water – like in a swamp.”

In cross-examination, prosecutor Rachel Beckett claimed the defendant’s victim made her way down the stairs and he “ran” after her.

She continued, claiming that when he got to the top of the stairs he saw Jennifer Higgins near the front door threshold and pursued her again, allegedly with a weapon in hand, to try and attack her for a second time. Parkinson categorically denied this.

Previously, the court heard how when the incident spilled out of the house into the front garden, a neighbour alerted police and paramedics as another, named as Christopher King, heard screams and shouts from the Higgins home.

Ms Beckett told the jury of six men and six women: “He opened his front door and saw Nicole Higgins. She was covered in blood. He heard her say ‘He’s stabbed me’.

“Mr King then heard a commotion at the property and went to the front door. He saw the defendant and Jennifer Higgins just inside the property.

“The defendant was covered in blood and holding a hammer. He had hold of Jennifer by her hair. She was holding onto his arms, trying to stop him hitting her with the hammer.

“Mr King tackled the defendant, grabbed the hammer and threw it to one side. He then dragged the defendant outside and sat on him to try to keep him where he was.

“In his hands he had a handful of red hair, Jennifer’s red hair.”

Police and paramedics arrived, with both Higgins women and Parkinson taken to London’s King’s College Hospital for treatment.

Jennifer’s head wound needed stitching, as did Nicole’s injury to her face.

Her stab wound resulted in a collapsed lung and she also suffered “defensive” cuts to her hands as she tried to stop Parkinson’s attack.

He was himself injured when Nicole had hit him to the head and on being tackled by Mr King, the court was told.

Parkinson was initially arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. Having been cautioned, he replied “She hit me with a hammer”, pointing at Nicole.

When re-arrested for attempted murder, he told police “No, no. I didn’t do that”, later adding in interview that he could not remember what had happened.

“His last memory of being with the family was in Cornwall on holiday, when he said he had purchased the hammer to fix his car” said Ms Beckett.

The jury was told that although he denies attempted murder, he has admitted two offences of wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and perverting the course of justice.

The issue to decide, the prosecutor explained, was whether he had intended to kill.

The trial, which is being heard by Judge Catherine Moore, continues.