Woman stabbed estranged boyfriend after inviting him into her flat, court hears

Covered in blood, Mark Cannon collapsed on the pavement outside 42-year-old Nicola Coleman's home, Stafford Crown Court was told. Opening the case, Miss Rachel Brand QC said Mr Cannon, aged 44, had been stabbed and slashed a number of times, with injuries to his face, neck and chest 'obviously caused by a knife'.

Coleman denies murdering Mr Cannon on September 29, 2008. Miss Brand told the court: "The particular wound which caused his death penetrated 12cm deep – it had cut a blood vessel, one of the main blood vessels in the neck and chest area, and it had penetrated through to his lung."

She told the jury: "This is not a 'Whodunnit? What you are considering is whether she is guilty of the crime of murder, or the alternative offence of manslaughter.

"They had lived together on and off and at times it had been a stormy relationship, you might hear, stormy on both sides. By September 29, 2008 they were not living together."

But the court heard Mr Cannon went round to her flat in Burwaye Close, Lichfield, and text messages retrieved by police showed she had invited him.

Neighbours and people passing by saw Mr Cannon stagger out of the building and collapse.

Miss Brand said: "His face was covered in blood and he had a knife in his hand, he was holding it with the point upwards, he was not trying to attack Nicola Coleman. She had followed him out of the building."

The court was told Mr Cannon was heard to say she had stabbed him by a couple pulling up in their car and before he collapsed.

Mr Cannon was taken to hospital and pronounced dead at 7.38pm. Coleman claims she was attacked by Mr Cannon and she stabbed him in self-defence. The trial continues.