A COURT has heard how the son-in-law of stab victim 'gipsy' John Russell discovered his body after calling at his house.

Mr Russell's bloodied corpse was found lying in the hall of his home in Narvik Avenue, Burnley, by Nick Pinches, former husband of Mr Russell's step-daughter Dawn.

Dawn Pinches' boyfriend Adrian Howker has admitted killing Mr Russell in December last year, but denies a charge of murder.

Nick Pinches had gone to the house with Dawn after Mr Russell's bloodstained car was found in a ravine in the remote Thursden Valley.

In a statement read to the court by prosecuting council Peter Wright QC, Mr Pinches said: "We pulled up outside the house and Dawn said she would turn the car around. I got out and approached the house. It felt strange because there were no lights on. I had never known the house lights to be off.

"I walked in and saw John on the floor in a terrible mess. I shouted to Dawn to stay in the car. John was covered in blood and there were wood splinters all over him and a pigeon trophy next to his head.

"I called 999, left the house and told Dawn her dad was dead."

A post mortem examination showed John Russell had suffered numerous injuries, including cuts and bruises to the head, at least seven slash wounds on his throat, cuts and bruising on the arms and eight stab wounds to the chest, four of which penetrated the heart.

Home Office pathologist John Rutherford said he had undergone a "persistent and determined attack".

The court heard Howker, 31, of Hawthorne Road, Burnley, went to the pensioner's home on the afternoon of December 16 armed with a knife and carrying a disposable glove.

Once at the house, Howker attacked John Russell and killed him before escaping in Russell's Vauxhall Meriva car, which was later found abandoned.

The jury heard Howker killed Mr Russell because the younger man held a grudge against the grandfather, who refused to accept him as his daughter's new partner following the break-up of her marriage to Nick Pinches.

(Proceeding)