A mother-of-three has told how a man who died from a stab wound had held scissors to her partner’s throat as he sat with their baby in his arms.

Tasha Wakefield said she "moved" the scissors away from Joe Chuter’s throat and Ronnie Smith then “backhanded” her around the face.

It was while there was grappling in the doorway of their home that Chuter grabbed a knife and allegedly stabbed Mr Smith.

Maidstone Crown Court has heard the victim acted as a mediator between his brother George and his former partner Miss Wakefield over access to their children.

When he arrived at their home in Taunton Vale, Gravesend, on a July evening last year he threatened the couple with the scissors, a jury was told.

He was pushed out by the couple, but 28-year-old Chuter took the knife from the mantelpiece and stabbed Mr Smith, 31, three times. A wound to the abdomen proved fatal.

George Smith, 27, had two children with Miss Wakefield, 28, and they would argue over access.

They separated in 2016 and Miss Wakefield started a relationship with Chuter. Arguments over George’s access to their children then started.

On Saturday, July 21, Miss Wakefield refused to let George see the children the following day and Ronnie, a 6ft 2in tall security officer at Gatwick Airport, went to the house to speak to her about it.

Miss Wakefield said in evidence Chuter, who is 5ft 5in, was sitting with their young child on his lap when Ronnie walked in and put the scissors to his throat.

She claimed Mr Smith threatened to either cut up or stab her partner if George could not see his children.

“I moved the scissors away from his throat and took the baby,” said Miss Wakefield.

“He came over to me and backhanded me round the face.

“He got hold of my hair and started hitting me on the back of the head. I was more worried about the baby. He punched me. I was protecting the baby.

“Joe got up and we managed to push him out of the door. He put his foot in the door and started again. He starts waving the scissors around.

“All I see is the blades coming through the door. I assumed it was the scissors. Basically, Joe’s got up, pushed him out of the door and gone out.

“I closed it and locked it. The baby was screaming.”

Miss Wakefield said she ran upstairs to wake up her alcoholic father, who had passed out, to give him the child.

She said she went back down and saw Ronnie walking away down the driveway.

“I went outside and Joe wasn’t there, so I don’t know what happened when I was trying to wake my dad up,” she said.

“Ronnie was just walking off. He wasn’t stumbling.

“He was walking reasonably normally. He didn’t look like there was anything wrong with him. I didn’t phone the police. That’s the one thing I should have done.”

Miss Wakefield said she spoke to Chuter on the phone about half an hour later. He was at his sister’s home.

She said she told him: “George has just come up here and said his brother is dead down the road.”

She added that George was “going crazy”.

Miss Wakefield claimed she did not see a knife in Chuter’s hand, but questioned further the next day by Mr Bennetts, she admitted she did see him stab Ronnie.

She wept as she continued: "Ronnie tried to attack me with the scissors and Joe stuck up for me. He stabbed him.

"I was at the bottom of the stairs. I had tried to split them up.

"Ronnie just grabbed hold of my arm and tried to stab me with the scissors. Joe has just panicked and done what he done.

"I'm not too sure what he actually done but I know that he stabbed him because I see it."

Asked what he used to stab Ronnie with, Miss Wakefield replied: "I don't know - a knife. I'm not sure where it came from.

"Ronnie had scissors in his hand waving them around and Joe was trying to protect himself.

"Ronnie has then grabbed hold of me and tried attacking me and I have hid my face. Then I think Joe has stabbed him because he managed to get him out the door."

Asked why her accounts of what happened differed, she said: "I didn't want to tell anyone what Joe has done because it's not his fault.

"He shouldn't be in there (prison). It was self-defence. He should be home with me and the kids."

Miss Wakefield also said during a prison visit to Chuter he told her he had cuts to his fingers from when he dropped the knife.

She maintained she did not see Chuter with a knife, and said she would not have allowed one to be left on her mantelpiece.

Miss Wakefield agreed that she and George did not get on well. “I don’t like talking to him because he scares me basically,” she said.

She had known Chuter since she was aged 11 when they lived near each other. When she was 16, her mother killed herself.

Chuter went into foster care and was in his 20s when he returned to the area. She was then going out with George Smith and they were together for about nine years.

“He was abusive, he was violent,” she claimed.

“He did have his good side. He has got special needs and things like that.”

She agreed the police were often called out to deal with incidents between them.

Miss Wakefield claimed Ronnie had told her in May: “Next time I come up here I’m not going to be nice.”

"I moved the scissors away from his throat and took the baby" - Tasha Wakefield

She also claimed George had previously struck Chuter with a baseball bat, leaving him in need of stitches and a clot on his head.

“Joe is tiny like me,” she said. “He is not a violent person.

"He ain’t even violent when they have come up and started on us. He used to stay out of the way.”

Forensic Pathologist Dr Ben Swift said moderate to severe force would have been needed to cause the fatal 7cm deep wound to the abdomen, just below the belly button.

It damaged major blood vessels and the main vein, resulting in extensive bleeding and causing death from multiple organ failure.

“The force used is difficult to assess because there are no bones in the way of the blade,” he said.

“I would say at least moderate. It may have been severe.”

Mr Smith also had two superficial wounds to the head.

Dr Swift added that blood tests did not reveal any use of drugs or alcohol.

George Smith told in evidence of hearing a bang and then seeing his brother’s car in St Patrick’s Gardens.

He went there and saw that his brother was injured inside. Afterwards, he went to Miss Wakefield’s home to find out what had happened.

Mr Smith said he had been nearby with two friends when he heard the bang.

“That’s how I found my brother,” he told the jury. Pointing at Chuter in the dock, he added: “He stabbed him and murdered him.”

Questioned by Oliver Saxby QC, defending, he denied going to the area because he knew there was going to be trouble.

“I am not on trial, it is that one there,” he protested.

Mr Smith said Ronnie had acted as a mediator over the children. “If I went there we would end up rowing,” he said.

“She would run off at her mouth.”

He agreed his relationship with Miss Wakefield was volatile. He was angry that she and Chuter had started a relationship behind his back.

He also accepted he had a problem with Chuter and had stated: “He and me, we are worst enemies.”

Ronnie, he said, also had a problem with Chuter.

“I was angry because she would not let me see the kids,” said Mr Smith.

But he said he told Ronnie not to go to the house. “I didn’t think he would go down there,” he added.

The trial continues.