A man with mental health issues was stabbed to death by a drug-taking neighbour when a row about noise boiled over into violence, a court heard.

Gordon Farnes had knocked on his ceiling after hearing banging coming from the flat above occupied by Gordon Locke and his girlfriend.

Locke then went to Mr Farnes’ home and stabbed him twice in the abdomen with a large knife used for gutting fish, it was alleged.

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Shortly before he collapsed and died, Mr Farnes managed to phone his mother and tell her: “He just attacked me.”

Maidstone Crown Court was told the 43-year-old victim had been living at the flat in Sherwood Road, Tunbridge Wells, for eight years.

He suffered from anxiety, depression and agoraphobia, rarely going out.

Locke, 28, had moved in with Rebecca Hadlow, who had been there about a year.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC said after Locke went to live at the flat the noise level increased and exacerbated Mr Farnes’ mental health problems.

As a result, he had applied to move to a new home.

Other neighbours had also spoken about the noise coming from Locke’s flat, with him shouting abuse at Miss Hadlow.

“It is clear matters became progressively worse in the months before the stabbing,” Miss Marshall told a jury of seven women and five men.

The two men had never spoken face to face but there had been shouting between the floor and ceiling. Mr Farnes banged on the ceiling when the noise was excessive.

He would regularly go and stay with his parents to escape the noise. He had told his mother Locke had shouted to him that he was a big man “banging up” and that he should go to his door.

His mother urged him not to retaliate. He replied: “I know mum. Much as I would like to punch the bloke, I won’t unless they come down to me.”

He added: “Sorry mum. I don’t want you to worry. I am good. I know what I am doing.”

Miss Hadlow was to tell police Locke had been taking excessive amounts of cocaine and not sleeping.

Shortly before the alleged attack, she said, he had “sniffed up” a week’s supply of the drug.

She said after him taking about a gram of cocaine in a day, he became threatening, wielding a baseball bat, and accusing her and others of stealing his drugs.

“She told the police she had been worried about his behaviour for some time and worried that he had been having some sort of a breakdown,” said Miss Marshall.

On the morning of July 17 last year, Locke went to the home of Ben Underdown. He was clutching a bottle of ginger wine and looking a mess, as though he was under the influence of drink and drugs.

He was slurring his words and giving the impression he’d had a heavy night. Mr Underdown drove Locke back to his home.

Miss Hadlow was there with Holly Mulligan. Miss Hadlow had a seizure while in the bathroom and Locke reacted angrily, saying: “Another one.”

He went into the bathroom and there was more banging. Mr Farnes then started banging on his ceiling, and Locke became angrier.

Miss Mulligan described him “losing the plot”, stamping on the floor and swearing at Mr Farnes. Miss Mulligan said Locke became “mentally crazy” and snapped.

Locke left the flat, taking something with him, and went to Mr Farnes’ door. Another neighbour heard him shout: “Stop banging on my floor.”

Another resident heard somebody knocking on Mr Farnes’ door shouting: “Open the f------ door. You have got five seconds before I kick it in.”

Miss Marshall said Locke stabbed Mr Farnes twice. The fatal wound entered the liver and went into the main “pumping chamber” of the heart.

He also had injuries to his eyes and chin, consistent with being punched. He was dead by the time paramedics and police arrived.

Locke returned to his flat and, indicating his blood-soaked clothes, told Miss Hadlow: “I think you had better wash these.”

She asked him what had happened and he replied: “I stabbed him five times.”

He added that he had punched Mr Farnes and stamped on him.

Locke went to a window and threw the knife into the garden. He then smoked a joint. He took a bath and changed his clothes.

"It is clear matters became progressively worse in the months before the stabbing" - prosecutor Eloise Marshall

Police later recovered a large knife with a serrated edge from the garden.

When arrested, Locke said: “Yeah, I did stab him. I know I shouldn’t, but I did. I apologise but he should not have started on my missus when she is having a fit.

“Someone started on me when she was having a fit. I took it too far. It was my gutting knife. I fully admit it. I am in the wrong.

“I wouldn’t have stabbed him if he hadn’t laughed at me. I know I took it a step too far but he hit me first. It is his fault. I feel a bit of an idiot. I snapped and made a mistake.”

He told officers he covered his hands in bleach and had a “bleach bath”.

He added: “I f----- stamped on him. F----- man had been asking for it for weeks mate. I hope that fat c--- dies mate.”

When charged, he said: “He should have kept his f------ mouth shut. I am a bit p----- off. If he had kept his f------ mouth shut I would not have done it.”

Miss Marshall added: “Whatever happened, he was not acting in self-defence, but had a loss of temper and when he stabbed him he was intent on killing him, or at the very least inflicting very serious harm.”

Locke denies murder. The trial continues.