Man accused of stabbing Wolverhampton doorman has 'no idea' who did it

Craig Birch, aged 31, is alleged to have knifed Christopher Ramsey outside the Harp Inn at Walsall Road, Horseley Fields, on June 7.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard this week that Birch arrived at the pub shortly after 2.30am after he had been drinking in another pub nearby.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of trouble flaring outside the Harp Inn that took place after the defendant was allegedly refused entry for attempting to take a bottle of cognac inside.

The images showed Birch outside the pub with three other men, including his twin brother Jamie Birch, his friend Danny Wallace and another man identified as Leroy.

He is seen to approach Mr Ramsey, who he said he had first met years earlier and knew as 'Ian' and 'Cherry B'.

Under cross-examination, Birch told the court: "Cherry B fell to the ground. Both of us were grappling and pushing."

"But you deliberately pushed him?" asked, prosecutor Mr Hugh O'Brien-Quinn. Birch said: "Yeah, but I didn't expect him to fall to the ground. Everyone was laughing."

The defendant added that he lost his balance and pushed forward towards Mr Ramsey after his foot kicked out in his direction. "It was getting forceful," he said.

CCTV footage showed Mr Ramsey backing away as Birch continued to move towards him. The defendant said: "I was talking to him, saying why you making something little out of something big?"

Mr O'Brien-Quinn said images shown to the jury revealed Danny Wallace and Leroy trying to intervene, before Jamie Birch is seen holding onto Mr Ramsey in the pub doorway.

The prosecutor said: "I am suggesting that Mr Ramsey had already been stabbed by this time. You had pulled out a substantial knife and you plunged it into his chest, didn't you? Then you tried to stab him again but you were pulled away."

"No," Birch replied, adding that he had 'no idea' who stabbed Mr Ramsey.

He said blood found on the sole of one of his trainers that was analysed as Mr Ramsey's had got there 'because I was probably walking through it."

Birch told the court he left Wolverhampton the following day on a pre-arranged visit to see a woman he was having an affair with in Stoke.

In a text message sent to his cousin, Birch said he was 'staying out of Wolves for a bit'. When asked if he knew a man had been stabbed he told the jury he had received telephone calls about it that afternoon.

Birch was arrested in Stoke two days after the stabbing. Following the stabbing Mr Ramsey underwent an emergency operation during which he had to be resuscitated after he 'died' when his heart stopped beating.

He also suffered kidney failure and a bleed to the right side of his brain that that led to part of his skull being removed.

Birch, of Inkerman Street, Heath Town, denies attempted murder. The trial continues.