A father has claimed he was acting in self-defence when he killed a man during an argument over access to children.

Joe Chuter said he lashed out with a knife and repeatedly stabbed Ronnie Smith because he and his partner Tasha Wakefield were under attack.

The 28-year-old said he and Miss Wakefield were trying to get Mr Smith out of their Gravesend home after they were threatened with a pair of scissors.

During questioning by prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC, Chuter asked: “Have you ever had anyone come to your house and threaten your wife and child?

“I am not having it. Do you know what it’s like when you have a family terrorising you every single day?”

Maidstone Crown Court has heard Mr Smith, 31, went to the house in Taunton Vale while acting as an “intermediary” about access to his younger brother’s children.

When he arrived he threatened the couple with the scissors, the jury was told.

He was pushed out, but Chuter grabbed a knife from the mantelpiece and stabbed Mr Smith three times. A wound to the abdomen proved fatal.

Mr Bennetts said Mr Smith’s brother George, 27, had two children with Miss Wakefield, 28, and argued over access.

They separated in 2016 and Miss Wakefield started a relationship with Chuter.

Do you know what it’s like when you have a family terrorising you every single day?..” - Joe Chuter

On Saturday, July 21, she told George he could not see the children and Ronnie, a 6ft 2in tall security officer at Gatwick Airport, went to the house to speak to her about it.

Mr Smith drove from his home in Staplehurst and parked his car in St Alban’s Close. Miss Wakefield was in the living room with Chuter, who was holding their young child.

Miss Wakefield claimed Mr Smith walked in and said: “I ain’t going to be nice no more. Is he allowed to see his kids, or do I have to beat this ----?”

She continued that Mr Smith took out scissors from his pocket, held it to Chuter’s throat and asked: “Is he allowed to see the kids or am I going to cut this ---- up?”

Miss Wakefield took the child from Chuter. She said she pushed the scissors away from her partner’s throat and she was then backhanded by Mr Smith.

She and Chuter pushed him out of the front door. Mr Smith put his foot in the door. Chuter, she said, then ran out and she shut the door.

George Smith was at a nearby friend’s house when he saw his brother’s car rolling down the hill and stopping in St Patrick’s Gardens. He ran over and found Ronnie slumped in the car.

He was bleeding and unconscious. He was taken to King’s College Hospital in London, but died the following morning. The fatal wound was to the left side of his abdomen.

He also had stab wounds to the left side of his face, which had damaged his skull, and his right palm, which could have been a defensive injury.

Chuter, who denies murder and manslaughter, said he rejected a suggestion by Mr Bennetts that he acted in an unreasonable way.

“You knew you had stabbed him repeatedly and there was no good reason for stabbing him,” said Mr Bennetts.

Asked why he did not call 999 from his mobile phone, he said: “I didn’t know what actually happened – not until the next day. I didn’t know I injured him bad. I knew I got him.

“I didn’t know I had stabbed him in the stomach. It was a rush. Everything was so fast.”

Asked why he did not call the police and ask for help, he replied:”I was in shock. I thought my other half had done it (called the police).”

Chuter said he ran off because he feared that George Smith or his friends might go to the house.

“If I ran off they were after me, not them,” he continued. “I thought if I ran off they will come for me, not attack my child and other half.”

Mr Bennetts told him: “You stabbed him and there was no good reason for doing that.”

Chuter replied: “Incorrect.”

“I didn’t know I had stabbed him in the stomach. It was a rush. Everything was so fast...” - Joe Chuter

Mr Bennetts: “The reason you stabbed him is because he came in and threatened you and your partner in your house – anger, teach him a lesson for doing that. Stab him up for that.”

Chuter: "No."

He said he stayed in an alleyway that night and went to his sister’s home the next day. He claimed he then discovered Mr Smith had died.

He admitted burning his clothing and burying the knife at his sister’s house.

“I was in shock,” he said. “I was in panic mode. I am not a violent person – never have been.”

When arrested, he told his sister it was self-defence.

“It was self-defence,” he said in evidence.

“When a man comes into your house and beats your other half and beats your child, yes, that’s self-defence.

“We were trying to get him out and he got his foot in the door. He had scissors in his right hand. He is walking backwards, but not to leave.

“He is 6ft 2in and sixteen stone. He has got strength on him. When he has got my partner by the hair by the front door, I have gone for him.

“I didn’t intend to kill him. I just wanted him out of the house. When he was waving the scissors he was saying: ‘I am going to kill you.’”

He denied he was exaggerating what happened.

The jury is due to retire to consider verdicts tomorrow.