'I thought he was going to shoot me, I was scared': Wolverhampton murder accused 'just acting on instinct'

I just acted on instinct, I thought he was going to kill me."

These are the words of Dylan Jackson as he gave evidence for the first time in his murder trial.

Jackson, 20 of Crosby Close, Whitmore Reans, is accused of killing drug dealer Herman 'Louis' Simpson at the victim's flat in Compton Road during a botched drug deal on April 13.

He told the jury at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday that he attacked the 47-year-old dealer, stabbing him six times, because he was scared of getting shot.

Jackson said Simpson used to a 'big timer dealer in the city' but he had become an addict and an easy target to pull the scam on. But, after realising the 'heroin' Jackson was peddling was actually ash, Mr Simpson pulled a gun from behind his sofa, Jackson continued.

"I thought he was going to shoot me, I was scared. I just acted on instinct, I thought he was going to kill me," he said.

Jackson said that he had no idea that Simpson was dead until the day after when he saw it in the newspaper.

He said: "I thought he was a typical crack head, I didn't expect him to have any weapons.

"At first the deal was going to be for nine ounces, then he changed it to half that and then changed it again to one ounce.

He told the court that he had pulled the same kind of scam on a regular basis to addicts in the city but on a much smaller scale, with deals normally being worth £10 or £20. But that he had never tried to swindle a dealer before.

He said that he was using the scam because he and his girlfriend had no money and he was trying to put food on the table.

After stabbing Mr Simpson, Jackson said that he took the money, the knife and the gun, disposing of the blade in a bin in a nearby street, and after concealing the gun down his trousers, hid it in a fridge at a waste disposal ground near his Crosby Close home.

He added: "I took the gun but I didn't know how to operate it.

"I didn't know how badly injured he was, I didn't see his injuries. I still thought there was a threat of violence so I took the gun and the knife and ran from the property."

He said he got a lift from the Compton area back to Crosby Close but on the way his girlfriend called saying that police had been round to their property and had Tasers and were looking for him.

Jackson told her that they were going to leave to stay with a friend of his in Birmingham. He claimed that he believed police were looking for him in connection with a breach of the peace charge – nothing to do with the incident that had occurred earlier.

Jackson remained on the run for two weeks before he was arrested in Bath on April 29.

He denies murder. The trial continues.