A hammer and knife-wielding man had to be tackled by a neighbour and sat on in order to stop him trying to kill his ex-partner and her daughter, a court has heard.

Jennifer Higgins was reaching for a mid-morning snack from a kitchen cupboard at her home in Swanley when she was struck to the back of the head by Gerard Parkinson.

With her then collapsing unconscious and bleeding to the floor, the 61-year-old ventured upstairs to start his attack on Nicole Higgins as she lay asleep in bed.

Jurors at Maidstone Crown Court heard how despite waking in panic as she was being hit with the hammer and stabbed in the chest, she managed to fight back.

At one point she even disarmed him of the hammer and struck him as her cries for help alerted others.

But Parkinson was undeterred and allegedly continued the attack as the two women fled the property.

It was, say the prosecution, only the actions of others that halted his efforts to kill them.

Parkinson, now 63 and of Parkhill Road, Sidcup, denies two offences of attempted murder on March 1, 2023.

At the start of his trial on Wednesday (March 19), the court heard that although his relationship with Jennifer Higgins had ended around three years earlier, he would stay “on and off” at her home in Bonney Way.

On the day of the assault, Parkinson was said to appear “agitated” and was following his ex-partner around the house as she was tidying up.

‘The defendant had hit her to the back of the head with a hammer....She fell to the floor and lost consciousness.’

It was at around 11am when she decided to take a break with a cup of tea and a chocolate bar that she was suddenly hit.

“She reached into the kitchen cupboard and as she did so she felt a blow to her head,” said prosecutor Rachel Beckett.

“The defendant had hit her to the back of the head with a hammer....She fell to the floor and lost consciousness.”

Parkinson then turned his attention to her daughter, the court heard.

“Leaving Jennifer Higgins on the floor, bleeding and unconscious, he took a knife and the hammer upstairs where Nicole Higgins had been asleep in bed,” continued Ms Beckett.

“When she woke up she saw the defendant standing over her, attacking her with the two weapons.

“She felt a lot of pain to her head and neck and felt a trickling sensation down her head which, in due course, she appreciated was blood.

“She looked up and saw the defendant leaning over her with two weapons in his hands. She was in a panic and said ‘What are you doing?’

“She thought he had an axe but then realised it was a hammer. He was breathing heavily and swinging the hammer at her.

“She shouted out for help...She tried to fight back, she tried to defend herself, and was able to disarm the defendant of the hammer, striking him with it to try and stop the attack.”

When help arrived, Parkinson was allegedly leaning over Nicole, who suffered a stab wound to her upper chest, with the knife.

There was then a struggle in which the weapon was grabbed from him and thrown into the hallway.

Meanwhile, Jennifer had started to regain consciousness in the kitchen. But she had no idea she had been attacked, said the prosecutor.

“She came to and couldn’t move or speak. She heard screaming from upstairs and thought she had had a stroke and hit her head when she lost balance,” explained Ms Beckett.

“Once she felt her legs again, she crawled to the front door to find a neighbour to get her an ambulance.”

The door had been “unusually” locked, added Ms Beckett, and attempts were made to pull her outside to safety. She was still unaware of what had happened to her daughter.

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.

‘He looked wild. He looked angry. I thank God someone was there to stop him...’

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 Crown’s case is that he deliberately armed himself, first to attack Jennifer Higgins from behind, using a hammer to strike her to the head, leaving her bleeding on the floor, unconscious and not moving,” Ms Beckett explained.

“He then took the knife upstairs and repeatedly attacked Nicole Higgins to the head and chest.

“It’s the Crown’s case he attempted to murder both Jennifer and Nicole, and the only reason that he stopped the attack on each of them was because he was either disarmed or physically stopped by others.”

On the second day of the trial, Jennifer Higgins’ interview with police was played to the jury.

She recalled feeling a “thud for through her brain” as she reached to grab a Milky Way chocolate bar to have with her cup of tea.

Moments before, she claimed Parkinson had been following her closely behind and she had to tell him: “Why are you so close behind all the time? Give me some space."

In the same interview, she described Parkinson as "controlling" during their nine-year relationship.

She explained she and family would often ask Parkinson to leave as he would just "walk around the house silently" but he refused, often suggesting he would take his own life.

She added: "He told me if I made him leave he would kill himself and leave a note blaming me."

Speaking about the incident that morning, Ms Higgins said: "It was horrific seeing your own daughter like that. She was screaming 'Gerard tried to kill me'.

"Gerard came down with the hammer in his hand. He was trying to hit me with the hammer and grabbed my hair."

She added: "He looked wild. He looked angry. I thank God someone was there to stop him."

Asked why he looked "wild," she replied: "His eyes. There was hatred in his face. It made him look wild.

"If I hadn't have come to in the kitchen he would have finished me off."

Ms Higgins said if it wasn't for the heroic actions of her neighbour who intervened she believed she and her daughter would be dead.

The trial continues.