The son of a woman on trial for murder has told a jury her final text to him before fatally stabbing pub landlord Matthew Bryant was ‘I will also kill him’.

Stephanie Langley exchanged messages with Cameron Langley-McColm just an hour before the 52-year-old was killed on September 11 last year.

A jury was told she also twice referred to Mr Bryant - who was her former brother-in-law - as a “w*****” in the same conversation with her son.

Furthermore, the 54-year-old described herself as being “very down” and “needing time out”.

But giving evidence today (April 16) at Maidstone Crown Court, Mr Langley-McColm said he regarded the final message he received at 5.05pm as “just a phrase”.

He told the court: “You never really think anyone means that when upset. It’s just a phrase some people use and I didn’t think anything of it.”

Langley, of Wilsons Lane, East Farleigh, denies murder and the alternative offence of manslaughter but has admitted possessing a knife.

The prosecution alleges she murdered Mr Bryant outside the Hare and Hounds pub, which he had run since 2015, in what was an “irrational but deliberate” attack.

The Crown Prosecution Service South East has today released video shown to the jury of the moments before and after Mr Bryant was attacked.

Although once related by marriage, they had not seen each other for more than 20 years, bar an incident in March or May last year when Langley joined her son and his girlfriend for a drink at the pub

Mr Langley-McColm played for the pool team but had no idea of the family link until that incident.

Langley, described as usually “happy, outgoing and very kind”, was said to have been “very distraught and in complete and utter shock” when she saw Mr Bryant in the pub that day.

Mr Langley-McColm told the court his mum “expressed her emotions” by being noisy and shouting so he tried to “de-escalate” the situation and take her home.

He said she “sincerely” apologised for her behaviour the next day, explaining to him why she had reacted that way.

“At the time I was still quite confused why she was emotional and upset, and that’s when she explained to me the events that happened all those years ago,” Mr Langley-McColm told the jury.

“She told me that his behaviour....was very abusive and there was rape involved as well.”

The woman in question also gave evidence and told the court she must have told Langley “a long time ago” she had been raped but could not recall when.

On the afternoon of the alleged murder, mum-of-two Langley spoke to her son in a series of messages.

These included a request to run some errands but he made an excuse about driving home from work in London as he wanted to go to the gym.

In a message containing instructions for dinner and feeding the pets, she told him: “I’m very down and I need you.

“Don’t call me, I need time out and will be home soon. Of course, in an emergency call but please try to cope.”

Mr Langley-McColm said he was “concerned” as the message showed she “had some stresses” in her life at that time.

It was when he replied to tell her he would be playing pool that evening, that she told him “Enjoy your pool with the w*****” followed up by “Oops” and then a little later “Go play with the one that is a w*****.”

Langley then added “I'll see you there” followed by “Crazy mum, remember”.

During the message exchange, there were also two calls lasting a total of just under two minutes but Mr Langley-McColm said he could not remember the conversations.

However, he repeated that his mother was “stressed, upset, and probably disappointed” at him for not running the errands.

He agreed that the message “I will also kill him” was the last he heard from her that day.

The court heard that at 6.06pm Mr Bryant was repeatedly stabbed.

Mr Langley-McColm arrived at the pub in Lower Boxley Road a short while later to see his mum sitting in a police vehicle.

His partner Shannon Cooney, who also went to the pub in the immediate aftermath, told the court she looked “very empty, like there was no one there”.

The pub landlord was stabbed three times - twice in the back and once to the chest, with that wound proving fatal within seconds and having penetrated 20cm deep and through his heart.

Just seconds earlier Mr Bryant had made a 999 call to report she had threatened to kill him. The line to the emergency operator was still open when he was knifed.

Jurors were told he could then be heard saying: “I've just been stabbed.”

Considerable efforts were made to save his life but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

While those attempts were being carried out, Langley sat at a table outside the pub repeatedly remarking she had killed him, she was glad she had done it and she was happy to go to jail.

She made similar comments while in the back of the police car.

The trial continues.