Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘I had blow after blow, raining
A man accused of a double murder and wounding two others has claimed he lashed out with a knife after he was attacked first.
Foster Christian said he was dizzy and seeing stars from being hit on the head when he started “punching out”.
The 54-year-old grandfather was giving evidence for the second day at his trial at Maidstone Crown Court.
He denies murdering Simon Gorecki, 48, and Natasha Sadler-ellis, 40, and wounding with intent her son Connaugh Harris, 20, and a 16-year-old boy, claiming he acted in self-defence.
The all-male jury has heard the trouble erupted at shared accommodation in Dickens Avenue, Canterbury, on March 29 this year after Mr Gorecki was taking a shower and the temperature changed when Christian turned on a tap in the kitchen to “make a cuppa”.
“I heard swearing from Simon,” he said. “I responded saying the same.
“I made a cuppa and went to my room. Ten minutes later I got a knock on my door. It was Natasha on the stairs.
“She said if I ever f****** do that again I will get smashed to bits.”
He told the jury of picking up a knife because he felt threatened because Mr Harris had entered his room.
“It looked like he had something in his hand by his right leg,” he said. “I told them to get the f*** out of my room. I held it up visibly. I pointed it towards him.”
Christian denied the knife was in a yellow carrier bag, as alleged by the prosecu- tion. It did not feature at all, he said.
Ms Sadler-ellis, he said, shouted: “Put that away.” He replied: “Yeah, if you get the f*** out of my room.”
Connaugh put his arm out to stop the others going any further. “He turned around and ushered them out,” he added.
Christian said in evidence that he started to go to his door to close it.
“The next thing Simon screamed out ‘You black b*******’,” he said. “He was hiding behind the stairs. That’s the direction he came from.
“There is no doubt in my mind he used those words. He was about 2ft from me. He knocked the younger fellow out of the way. He knocked Tasha out of the way and he lunged for me.
“He lunged at me with his left hand and all I could see was this flash of metal. The light was coming in from my room. All I could see was the darkness of the blade and the flashing of it. It happened so fast.”
Asked by his barrister Rajiv Menon, QC if there was any doubt about what was in Mr Gorecki’s hand, he replied: “Yes, it was a knife. I am sure about that. It was dark in colour.
“I can’t assist with the size of the blade. I stood back. I still had the knife [Christian’s own knife] in my hand. I didn’t have the chance to say anything to him.
“His momentum was still coming towards me. The next thing I know – panic. I was hit on the head. I don’t know who done it. I didn’t see. I don’t know what hit me on the head.
“It was an object. It felt like I was hit by a hammer. It connected on the left side of my head. I went dizzy. All I could see was stars. My legs began to buckle.
“Simon was coming in towards me. I grabbed hold of him and got him in a kind of a headlock. I had blood running in my eyes. I received a flurry of blows.
“I started to punch back. I couldn’t see properly. I was just receiving blow after blow after blow to my head. It was raining down on me – bang, bang, bang.
“I punched out as best I could. Eventually, I had to let go. It didn’t stop there. I was punching out, punching out. All of a sudden it just stopped. I got myself up because I was in a crouching position. I was in shock. I just couldn’t believe what was happening. I had got this knife in my hand. How did I get this?
“I had blood dripping down from my head. I was thinking: What just happened?”
Mr Menon asked: “Were you aware you had used that knife and stabbed four people with it?”
Christian answered: “No, not straight away.”
Mr Gorecki, who was 5ft 6in, was stabbed five times, four of the wounds being to his back.
Ms Sadler-ellis had several wounds, one of which entered above her left eyebrow and “followed down” inside her lower jaw.
Mr Gorecki, a former fishmonger at the Goods Shed in Canterbury, died as a result of a collapsed right lung and Ms SadlerEllis from a wound to her heart.
The jury is expected to retire today (Thursday) to deliberate its verdict.
‘It felt like I was hit by a hammer. It connected on the left side of my head. I went dizzy. All I could see was stars. My legs began to buckle’