Suspected murderer is accused of stabbing man to death after a row about cheating

A suspected murderer allegedly confessed to paramedics that she had killed a man at her home after he had accused her of spreading rumours about him cheating on his girlfriend.
Pictured is Leon Pirdue.Pictured is Leon Pirdue.
Pictured is Leon Pirdue.

Derby Crown Court heard during the start of a trial on Tuesday, March 20, how Jade Grant, 26, of Chiltern Close, Loundsley Green, Chesterfield, allegedly stabbed 32-year-old Leon Pirdue to death in the heart with a steak knife.

Prosecuting barrister Michael Evans QC claimed Grant stabbed Mr Pirdue with the knife and the cause of death was a single stab wound to the chest penetrating the left side of his heart.

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He added: “Miss Grant called the ambulance service and on the attendance of the ambulance service she made comments stating, ‘I’m going to prison, I’m going to prison, I killed him’.”

Chiltern Close, Chesterfield.Chiltern Close, Chesterfield.
Chiltern Close, Chesterfield.

Grant had initially been at a birthday party at Old Whittington Social Club, in Chesterfield, and returned with friends for an after-party at her home and Mr Pirdue arrived with his friend James Nash in the early hours of Sunday, September 17, last year.

Mr Evans QC said Mr Pirdue called his girlfriend Corinne Bland about 7am and put her on speaker phone and told her to tell Grant what she was supposed to have been saying about him at the birthday party.

Ms Bland, according to Mr Evans, said Grant had said Ms Bland could do better than Leon Pirdue and that he had been cheating on her, something Grant denied saying.

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Mr Evans added that during calls Ms Bland could hear a female voice saying, ‘get out of my house’, four or five times and she stated she could hear Mr Pirdue saying, ‘why are you trying to stab me?’, and during another call she heard Mr Pirdue saying, ‘go on then stab me, stab me’, and she heard a commotion and the call ended.

Pictured is Derby Crown Court.Pictured is Derby Crown Court.
Pictured is Derby Crown Court.

Everyone had left the party by 6.30am, according to Mr Evans, apart from Leon Pirdue’s friend James Nash and Jade Grant’s friend Donna Stanton who both left just after 7am and it is claimed neither witnessed the stabbing.

Grant was seen walking out of her address shortly after the alleged murder, according to Mr Evans, and she had visited a newsagent shop and asked for help and claimed she had been trying to call paramedics.

The court heard how paramedics discovered Leon Pirdue dead on the defendant’s kitchen floor.

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Miss Bland, who has two children from her relationship with Mr Pirdue, tried ringing to see if he was okay, according to Mr Evans, and during a call she said the defendant could be heard saying, ‘I stabbed him, he’s on the floor, he’s dead’.

Chiltern Close, Chesterfield.Chiltern Close, Chesterfield.
Chiltern Close, Chesterfield.

Mr Evans added: “Paramedics attended and they saw the defendant. The defendant made several important comments including, ‘I’m going to prison, I have killed him’.”

Grant claimed to paramedics Mr Pirdue had thumped her and he had continued to hit her in the kitchen and that they had both fallen to the floor and Mr Pirdue had fallen on top of her.

Mr Evans claimed she also told paramedics she had grabbed a knife and stabbed him but she later denied saying this.

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Leon Pirdue, of Racecourse Road, Newbold, Chesterfield, was pronounced dead at 7.30am despite efforts by the paramedics, according to the court.

Pictured is Derby Crown Court.Pictured is Derby Crown Court.
Pictured is Derby Crown Court.

Grant was arrested and Mr Evans claimed during the journey with police she said, ‘I have killed someone, I have killed somebody’.

The defendant told police when Corinne Bland had been on speaker phone she had tried to speak to her but Mr Pirdue had pushed and punched her so she picked up a knife to tell him to stay away but she dropped it. Grant claimed Mr Pirdue punched her a second time and she called 999 but ended the call and she attempted to call her brother.

She told police she had asked Mr Pirdue to leave but she claimed he hit her to the head with a vodka bottle causing her to fall and claimed he had kicked her and she believed she had passed out.

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The defendant added to police that she woke with Leon Pirdue slumped on top of her and she went looking for help.

She also disputed comments made by the paramedics that she had said Miss Bland had found out she had been having sex with Mr Pirdue and she claimed she had no recollection of stabbing Mr Pirdue.

Mr Evans said: “We say the defendant lost her temper and struck out with a knife stabbing him through the heart after a night of drinking and partying. Anyone stabbing someone with a knife to that area can only have one intention at the time of the striking and that is to cause serious harm and if we are right, she is guilty of murder.

“There is no doubt she regretted it but regret does not provide a defence. Temper can be tempered with the realisation of what you have done and that is what has happened here.”

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Defence barrister Clive Stockwell QC claimed Leon Pirdue was full of rage because Jade Grant had said he had been unfaithful and he also alleged that Mr Pirdue had attacked her.

He added that Grant called her brother and called 999 and was then allegedly struck with a vodka bottle and she was allegedly kicked and she claimed her last memory was being forced to the floor.

Mr Stockwell outlined the issues he thinks the jury has to consider, including whether the stabbing was accidental or self defence, who actually caused the injury and that Miss Grant had made efforts to save Leon Pirdue and to seek assistance.

Jade Grant has pleaded not guilty to murder.

The trial continues.