Boyfriend murdered for stopping thug throwing chips at his girlfriend

Legal secretary Kerry Barker said Richard Whelan had tried to stop Anthony Joseph, 22, throwing chips at her.

She said: "Richard stood up, I turned around and they were fighting. The man was basically on top of Richard. Richard was trying to fight back, I remember trying to pull the man off.

"I was ringing the bell, I was screaming, 'Leave him alone'."

As Joseph got up, she said, she saw a knife in his right hand and realised her boyfriend's shirt was soaked in blood.

The 28-year-old events manager had been stabbed seven times, including once through the heart. He staggered down the steps from the top deck but collapsed. Miss Barker, 38, was at his side when he died in hospital minutes later.

The Old Bailey heard that Joseph had been released from prison in Manchester just eight hours before the attack in North London on July

29, 2005. He had spent five months on remand before the case against him was dropped for lack of evidence. Prosecutor Jonathan Turner said he was angry because he felt the five weeks had been all for nothing.

Miss Barker and Mr Whelan had met in Islington for drinks after work, then decided to go for a meal near her home in Muswell Hill.

The court heard that they ran across the road to catch a number 43 bus shortly before 10pm. Joseph, who lived in Islington, got on at the same stop.

Mr Turner said Joseph initially began throwing chips at an American woman, Kelly Burke, who told police he had a "smirk on his face" and "looked really weird".

Miss Burke went downstairs and he turned his attention to Miss Barker. Giving evidence, she said: "I said to Richard, 'look he's throwing chips at that girl'.

"When she went downstairs I said, 'He'd better not start throwing them at me, he's probably going to start throwing them at me'." She was then hit on the back of the head by a chip, she said.

Miss Barker said: "It did take me by surprise. The man was laughing as he was throwing the chips, but there was nothing else really said."

Then Mr Whelan got up to confront Joseph and a fight began.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of Joseph holding the knife above his head and biting Mr Whelan's hand as he tried to push him away.

He was seen repeatedly stabbing his victim before fleeing from the bus.

Miss Barker was close to tears as she spoke of Mr Whelan, who lived in Kentish Town, North London.

She said she had never seen him get into a fight and added: "He was just a very private person, very calm, who got on well with people."

The court heard that Joseph was identified as the killer through DNA after detectives found his comb and a clump of his hair on the bus.

His leather jacket, stained with Mr Whelan's blood, was found dumped nearby. When Joseph was arrested six days later, he had a newspaper cutting about the murder and a folding knife in his trouser pockets, the court heard.

He asked a policeman: "How many years do you get for murder?"

When forensic officers took clippings of his fingernails, Joseph said: "I don't know why you want nail cuttings a week later. I've washed my hands loads of times since then."

The court heard that Joseph had signed forms when he was arrested declaring that he had no mental illness. But he has since claimed to be a schizophrenic who heard voices.

He denies murder but will admit manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Mr Turner said it was for the jury to decide whether Joseph was really insane, or 'an angry man with a bad temper in the habit of carrying a knife who used it to kill an unarmed man as a result of a stupid argument on a bus, knowing exactly what he was doing."

The trial continues.