AFTER witnesses told police they thought Jordan Taylor started the fight which led to his death, his friend Neil Vaughan, who was also injured, told officers: “Jordan has always been a bit fiery.”

A jury at a Bristol crown court trial has been hearing evidence since Monday, after Hayden Maslen, 19, of Park Street, pleaded not guilty to both murder and manslaughter but admitted carrying a bladed article in Prospect Place, Trowbridge, in the early hours of March 12.

Today they saw video of a police interview with Mr Vaughan hours after Jordan Taylor, 25, died, in which he told them: “I never thought he would do something like that. I have no idea what was going through his mind.”

The court heard Maslen was walking home from a night of smoking cannabis with his friends when he encountered the pair, who had spent the evening drinking before driving round town planning to buy drugs. 

“I heard the rattle of a bottle outside and then a thud and it made me get up out of bed,” said David Franklin, who witnessed the fight from his first floor flat in Prospect Place.

“I went to the window and I saw two men fightingaggressively. The smaller man (Jordan) told the taller bloke (Hayden) to give him all his s*** but the taller bloke said he didn’t want any trouble.”

Earlier in the trial jurors were told Jordan Taylor bled to death after he was stabbed four times with a hunting knife that was ‘designed to do maximum damage’, after Hayden Maslen denied murdering him.

On the first day of his trial at Bristol Crown Court on Monday, Maslen pleaded not guilty to murder, manslaughter, wounding with intent and unlawful wounding but admitted carrying a bladed article, following the death of the 25-year-old former Clarendon Academy pupil.

Prosecutor Anna Vigars QC told the court Mr Taylor, from Hilperton, and his friend Neil Vaughan, 24, had been drinking in the Black Horse pub in Frome Road on March 12 before they set upon Maslen with a can of aerosol in Prospect Place, after spotting the 19-year-old walking home.

 “He had spent the night smoking cannabis, listening to music and playing guitar with two friends, Kieran Clark and Dan, in Trowbridge,” she said.

The court heard Mr Taylor was stabbed twice in the front and twice in the back with wounds between 9.5 and 13.5cm deep puncturing the abdominal aorta. Mr Vaughan was also stabbed once in the back.

After the attack Mr Vaughan drove his friend to Trowbridge Hospital where, finding it shut, he dialled 999.

Despite the best efforts of paramedic Edward Valentine, who answered the 999 call outside the closed Trowbridge Community Hospital, Mr Taylor died at 2.44am.

Maslen handed himself in five days later, telling police he had used the knife in self-defence. 

Ms Vigars said: “The Crown accepts Mr Maslen wasn’t looking for trouble that night but when he was attacked he took the decision to take out a hunting knife and stab it repeatedly into Jordan Taylor and also into Neil Vaughan. 

“What he did went far beyond self-defence – he went completely over the top.”

On Wednesday, David Franklin, of Prospect Place, and Brendan Donnelan, of Lower Court, told the jury how they heard Vaughan’s silver Peugeot 307 screech to a halt in Prospect Place and a fight break out. 

Mr Franklin described seeing Mr Taylor whipping Maslen with a belt while Mr Donnelan said he saw Maslen’s hands go up in submission before he fell backwards. 

The court heard that after the attack Maslen rang his mother, who was spotted on CCTV collecting him from Timbrell Street.

Alpha Taxi driver Zouhir Aissaoui also said a bloodied Maslen knocked on the passenger side window of his car and asked for help before entering a bin storage unit near Charlotte Square. 

Questioning him, Ms Vigars said: “Someone knocked on the passenger side window of your car and it startled you because you didn’t see him approach.

“When you got out and asked what was wrong he was spaced out and he ignored you.

 “He then walked away past the car and towards the bin storage area carrying what you describe as a black bag a couple of inches wider and longer than a shoebox.”

This morning, the court was also shown a video taken in Trowbridge showing the route Mr Taylor and Mr Vaughan drove that night.

In his police interview, Mr Vaughan told officers: “I can’t get my head round it. I have known him (Jordan) for years. He never said who this person was and I don’t know why he did this. He (Jordan) has had ADHD for years and he can be hyper.”

Maslen appeared in the dock wearing a dark suit and blue shirt and with his hair slicked back. The trial continues.