Barry Street’s wife told police how she cradled her dying husband after simmering tensions boiled over at West Meadows travellers’ site near Ipswich last year.
The Old Bailey had previously heard Mr Street had been given a written warning and verbal warnings after complaints were lodged about him.
On the day he died a group of women including Stacey Webb, the partner of Nelson Smith Jnr’s father, had gone to the site manager to say Mr Street was a bully and to call for his eviction from West Meadows.
Tammy Smith, 26, Mr Street’s wife, had gone to see Miss Webb at her caravan to take issue with her and defend her husband.
The two women ended up fighting watched by a group of men and women, including Mr Street.
The jury was shown Miss Smith’s police interview in which she said Miss Webb had pulled her hair and bitten one of her fingers.
Miss Smith said as Miss Webb released her hold Nelson Smith Jnr’s grandmother Carol was screaming.
Miss Smith said: “I saw Nelson run past me and I saw my husband come out of the (caravan) pitch that belonged to Stacey and Nelson (Snr).
“I have run out of the pitch and as I have run out to check my husband dropped to the floor.
“I believe he was stabbed to the neck on the plot.
“Barry got up and he ran and as I’m watching I see Nathan (Oakley) drop to his knees saying ‘Emily (his brother’s partner), help me’.
“There was blood coming out of his mouth. He dropped to his knees.
“I continued to run to Barry and as I’m running Nelson (Jnr) has stabbed him twice in the back.
“Nelson ran past me with the knife. I have run to my husband. He’s dropped, he’s collapsed on the floor at the entrance to the site on his back.
“There was just loads of blood coming from him.
“I’m holding his head to say ‘you will be all right, we are going to get an ambulance. Keep talking to me, keep looking at me’.”
Miss Smith said two friends arrived to help her.
Miss Smith told police: “They are trying to help me with him. He was saying that he couldn’t breathe. He was saying he was going to die.
“There happened to be a paramedic who was on his way home from work and he came running and did his best.
“He told me to hold tissues to his (Barry’s) neck.
“Barry was still fighting it off.
“The ambulance took so long to come and when it did I goes ‘you are going to the hospital’ and that’s where he died.”
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