‘Victim ambushed and killed by his love rival’ úŗ¨ĥƢAEŏƩĽ

MURDER victim Gareth Atkinson was deliberately ambushed and killed by his long-term love rival, a court heard.

The 25-year-old died after being stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife in the doorway of his girlfriend Jade Walker-Saunders’ flat in Lockwood.

Boxer Ashley King admits killing Mr Atkinson but claims that he acted in self-defence after the victim, who he said was known for carrying knives, attempted to force his way into the Bentley Street property.

But a jury sitting at Leeds Crown Court was told that the pair had been bitter rivals for almost two years and the threats of death and violence King directed towards Mr Atkinson had escalated into physical threats and, ultimately, the Meltham man’s death.

They heard that the men had fought over two women they had both been sleeping with, Shaunie Haig and Miss Walker-Saunders, who refused to give evidence after witnessing King stabbing the popular doorman.

In his closing statement to the jury, Simon Kealey QC told them: “Gareth Atkinson was ambushed after a long-running intimidation by King.

“There was no accident. It was a deliberate and intentional stabbing causing his death.”

He told the jury that the initial spats between Mr Atkinson and King over the victim seeing King’s former girlfriend of three years Miss Haig increased in intensity to the point that the boxer started to threaten to kill and seriously harm