Man ‘sat on neighbour’s body and lit a cigarette after stabbing him to death’

A man stabbed his neighbour to death then sat on top of his body and lit a ‘triumphant’ cigarette, a court heard.

Can Arslan attacked dad-of-three Matthew Boorman as he returned home from work, jurors were told.

Arslan, 52, had subjected neighbours to years of threats and abuse and was charged with harassment a week before the attack last October, prosecutors said.

He had accused residents in Walton Cardiff, Gloucestershire, of trying to get him evicted and told police he would sort Mr Boorman out himself, jurors heard.

The next day, he repeatedly stabbed his victim in the head and neck.

Mr Boorman’s wife, Sarah, watched Arslan walk past her kitchen window and told jurors she thought he was punching her husband.

But when she went to help she saw he had a knife.

‘Arslan treated Matthew like he was a piece of meat; he sat on top of him and he lit a cigarette as if he was triumphant,’ she said.

After the attack, Arslan ‘casually’ walked around as engineer Mr Boorman, 43, lay dying, she added.

‘He was calm. He knew what he was doing. He loved the attention,’ she said.

She cried for help and Arslan swiped the knife at her leaving a deep wound in her thigh, Bristol crown court heard.

Her oldest child saw his father’s bloodied body from his window, and ‘can’t get it out of his head’, she said.

Arslan then forced his way into neighbour Peter Marsden’s home and knifed him eight times, the court heard.

He returned to the Boormans’ and neighbours carrying out CPR moved his victim in case Arslan targeted him again, prosecutor Kate Brunner QC said.

He was eventually overpowered by residents armed with golf clubs, she told the court.

When police arrived, Arslan’s wife, Louise, threw water at them, neighbour Elizabeth Stock said.

Turkish-born Arslan denies murder. He claims he was suffering a psychiatric disorder at the time of the attack.

The trial continues.

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