Man stabbed 56 times tells court his friend attacked him on night he’s ‘living over and over’ – North Wales Live

A man said to have been stabbed 56 times after he was lured to a secluded spot and set upon has told a court he "lives that night over and over".

Giving evidence from behind a screen, Karl Johnson told Mold Crown Court that it was his friend Nathan Roberts who had attacked him.

Roberts denies attempted murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He accepts that he arranged to meet Mr Johnson down a dark lane near to the entrance to Corus Steel in Garden City on October 21 last year, claiming it was because he wanted to buy cocaine and the area was "convenient for drug dealing".

But Mr Johnson told the jury he was "not a drug dealer" and had driven to North Wales to collect money Roberts owed him.

It is alleged that Roberts struck Mr Johnson over the head, rendering him defenceless, and launched a "sustained knife attack" as Mr Johnson got back into his car.

The 28-year-old, of Chester Close, Shotton, Flintshire, claims it wasn't him but two black men wearing dark tracksuits who spoke with "foreign accents".

He said that, after they fled, he moved Mr Johnson into the passenger seat of the car and got into the driver's seat, saying he was going to get him to hospital, but stopped at the Texaco petrol station on Sealand Road to put air in a flat tyre.

The court heard that blood-soaked Mr Johnson staggered out of the car and collapsed on the floor of the petrol station shop while Roberts bought cans of beer and Red Bull.

Mr Johnson was rushed to hospital and needed surgery.

When he came around, he told doctors that two other men had carried out the attack - but told the jury he had no recollection of saying that in his evidence.

He said: "As far as I'm concerned, the only person there was me and my mate Nathan.

"I'm living that night over and over."

Asked by the defence whether the stabbing was linked to drugs and whether he was "treading on the toes of other dealers", Mr Johnson said: "I'm not a drug dealer. I was in the middle of nowhere."

Under cross examination, it was put to him that it wasn't Roberts who stabbed him, but Mr Johnson said: "There was no one else there."

He added: "It was Nathan who attacked me.

"I wish it wasn't. I wish that day had never happened.

"I'm suffering. I've got to live with that day for the rest of my life."

The court heard that police found cocaine and cannabis in Mr Johnson's car, along with 600 in cash, a set of scales, and some bicarbonate of soda, which the defence suggested can be used to cut cocaine.

Mr Johnson said that, while he owned up to everything that was in the car, some of it - including the cocaine - wasn't his.

The court also heard from Mohammed Arshad, a cashier who was working in the Texaco garage on the night the two men came in at around 9pm.

He described one as "in pain and full of blood", who was "making noises" and saying: "Oh my God."

The other man bought some Red Bull and beers and Mr Arshad described him as looking "totally confused", but said he was trying to help the victim by taking off his friend's jacket and using it on his chest and attempting to give him water.

Mr Arshad said he called for an ambulance and heard one of them say they'd been attacked with a knife.

The trial continues.

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Man stabbed 56 times tells court his friend attacked him on night he's 'living over and over' - North Wales Live