'˜Emotionless' man covered in blood was spotted near scene of fatal Crawley stabbing, court hears

Vladimir Ivanov, 23, is standing trial charged with the murder of 61-year-old Glyn Rouse on November 28 last year.

Speaking at Lewes Crown Court this morning, prosecutor Matthew Jewell read out statements from people who had kept Mr Rouse company until an ambulance arrived, as well as from two drivers who say they encountered a bloodstained man in the middle of the road.

Ivanov, of Juniper Road in Crawley, denies murder.

Passer-by finds victim covered in blood, but still alive

Callum Fisher was walking past Cherry Lane Adventure Playground near Langley Green on his way to work that morning about 10.20am when he saw a man coming towards him, holding his neck.

In his statement, he said: “As he comes a little bit closer it becomes apparent there is red blood all down his face. Literally all down him.

“Mr Rouse is gargling and trying to speak at the same time. He was really pale in the face.”

Mr Fisher could see a wound in the man’s neck and called 999.

He asked the man if he knew who had injured him, and he replied ‘eastern European’, the court heard.

Mr Fisher then asked what the attacker had been wearing, and he said either a black hoodie or black jacket.

Paramedics arrived minutes later but sadly were unable to save Mr Rouse.

‘You take me to clinic, you take me to clinic’

The jury also heard statements from Martin Parish and Rhioui Nazha, who each encountered a bloodstained man on their way to work that morning.

Mr Parish said a man with bloodied hands and a jacket that ‘glistened with what appeared to be blood’ came up to his van when he was stopped in traffic.

He added: “He was wearing a black hooded jacket.

“As he approached the car I wound the window down and he said to me ‘you take me to clinic, you take me to clinic’.

“I said I am not from this area I am not getting involved.”

Mr Parish said he drove off, and in his rear-view mirror he saw the man go up to the car behind.

In the middle of the road with bloodied hands

Ms Nazha was driving her silver Peugeot to work nearby that morning, and the court heard it was her that the man approached after Mr Parish left.

She described seeing a man standing ‘right in the middle of the road’, who began to walk towards her.

She said: “He was just standing there. He looked dazed and confused.

“I could see that he had blood on his face and blood all over the palm of the hand which he had raised towards me.”

Ms Nazha said he looked stunned and ‘emotionless’. She said he had no visible injuries, despite the blood.

As he approached her car, she said felt scared of the man.

“There was just something about the way he was staring at me that made me afraid.

“He just did not look right.”

She decided to drive away and later called the police to tell them what she had seen.

Ivanov was later arrested by officers elsewhere.

The trial continues.

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