Langham man was 'obsessed' with Oakham woman, Leicester Crown Court trial hears
A Rutland man was 'obsessed' with the woman he stabbed 10 times, a court heard.
Following an incident in Bullfinch Close, Oakham on January 21 last year, Robert Truscott of Lowther Close, Langham was charged with attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and possession of a knife.
A trial began on Tuesday (January 4) at Leicester Crown Court after Truscott pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and two counts of wounding with intent. He has admitted having an offensive weapon and unlawful wounding.
The jury heard yesterday that while drunk, Truscott, 48, went to the home of Emma Wolfenden and stabbed her 10 times.
It was also alleged that he caused injury to a 26-year-old man, who Miss Wolfenden had met for the first time that night after connecting on the dating website Tinder.
As the trial continued today (Thursday, January 6), a statement made in April last year was read out by prosecutor Andrew Peet from Miss Wolfenden's sister, Laura, who had previously been in a relationship with Truscott and has known him for more than 20 years.
It read: "Rob would message me and ask for [Emma's] address so he could send her things. I told him I wasn't going to give it to him."
She added: "Rob told me that he said they could try being in a relationship but Emma said no.
"Rob is obsessed with Emma. He would phone me asking where she was if she didn't answer the phone.
"He always wanted to be in control and when he wasn't, he would lose his temper."
WhatsApp messages between Emma and Truscott were also read out, indicating that Truscott initiated the majority of conversation, with Emma barely replying.
The court heard that on the night of the incident, Truscott held the knife to the Tinder date's neck and when he tried to grab the knife, the man's hand was injured. A fight then took place between the pair while Miss Wolfenden called 999.
He then went back to the kitchen and held Miss Wolfenden with a sharp weapon against her neck.
Believing that he was causing the aggravation, the man, who had travelled from Derbyshire on a moped, left Miss Wolfenden, who had also been drinking, and Truscott in the house alone.
In a witness report read out to the jury, a neighbour who was passing by described seeing the man leave the house 'like he was being chased out the address'. The man asked the neighbour to call the police. However, after the neighbour briefly spoke to the man he felt he wasn't being chased but didn't want to engage in conversation with him.
The neighbour then heard a 'single scream'.
The court also heard the 999 call Truscott made after stabbing Miss Wolfenden.
He can be heard telling the call handler, 'I actually done it...I stabbed her', estimating that it was 'two to five minutes ago'.
The call handler then instructed Truscott to give Miss Wolfenden medical attention to help with the bleeding.
Truscott fetched a towel and applied pressure to the open wound on Miss Wolfenden's neck which was heavily bleeding.
Truscott also told the call handler that 'there's another person involved but he's gone on a moped'.
In statements from the police officers who attended the incident, it was noted that Truscott was saying he was sorry to Miss Wolfenden while she lay injured.
He was also described as looking 'shocked' and his eyes were 'glazed', as he didn't 'speak or move' when the emergency services descended on the property.
Truscott was arrested by police and later the Tinder date, who returned to the property, was also taken to police custody. He was later released without charge.
A statement from Miss Wolfenden read out in court yesterday heard that she had been friends with Truscott for four years, after meeting through her sister. Laura and Truscott broke up two years later but Miss Wolfenden maintained a friendship with him.
"It was rare he stayed the night. We were never in a relationship, we were never boyfriend and girlfriend. We were just friends but I did have sex with him on a couple of occasions," she said.
Miss Wolfenden was left in hospital for three months as a result of her injuries. She died in June due to unrelated circumstances, aged 37.
The trial continues.