A jury in the trial of alleged murderer Ian Franklin heard that he threatened to kill a neighbour while brandishing a knife in a previous incident a year before the fatal attack on York father Greg Marshall.
The witness, who was named in court, gave evidence at Leeds Crown Court today (Wednesday) following Mr Franklin’s not-guilty plea to murder.
She said that in August 2023, a year before the fatal attack, Franklin, 33, threatened to murder her then partner during an incident in York’s Bell Farm Estate.
She said she had asked her partner to “have a word” with Franklin after hearing loud noises and “smashing and banging” inside their neighbours’ home late at night which appeared to be some kind of “domestic” incident.
When her partner knocked on the door and asked him to keep the noise down, Franklin was initially amicable and compliant, she said.
But a few minutes later, when they were back inside, she heard him “screaming” her boyfriend’s name next to the fence which separated their properties.
When they went outside, Franklin was challenging her partner to a fight for “daring” to ask him to keep the noise down.
“He was crazy, mad, like really angry at us,” she said.
She said that Franklin had a large kitchen knife in his hand and told her partner: “I’ll fight you, I’ll murder you.”
“He (Franklin) said, ‘Come on, I’ll murder you; I’ll fxxxxxx kill you,’” she added.
She said she went back inside to call police. Officers turned up and she gave them a statement, but ultimately no further action was taken.
Franklin’s barrister Nick Johnson KC claimed that his client had not produced a knife during the incident, but the female witness insisted that he did, adding: “I do not think Franklin is a safe person to be around.”
May never have happened
She also witnessed the incident which led to the fatal stabbing of 35-year-old Mr Marshall a year later, in the early hours of 17 August last year.
She looked out of her front window in Roche Avenue, part of the Bell Farm Estate, and saw Mr Marshall and his friend Jason Rhodes, 33, in Franklin’s front garden, next to the front window.
She said they were “demanding stuff from him” and shouting Franklin’s name.
“Then they said something like, ‘We’re going to get what we’re owed,’” she added.
She said she saw one of the men “picking something up off the ground and trying to smash the window with it”, then heard Franklin’s partner scream.
She saw Mr Marshall punch Franklin’s partner to the ground in the garden, then saw “something” in Franklin’s hand.
She said that, like a boxer, Mr Marshall was “trying to dodge whatever Ian was doing and then was chased out of the garden”.
The witness, now a single mother, said she knew bare-knuckle boxer Mr Marshall and had known his wife Michelle Marshall since they were teenagers.
She said that if Franklin had been prosecuted for the incident involving her former partner a year earlier, the fatal stabbing may never have happened.
“I came to give evidence because someone’s dead and if this had been dealt with before, we wouldn’t be here,” she added.
‘Frenzied attack’
Earlier in the trial, the prosecution outlined the circumstances leading to Mr Marshall’s death in the early hours of 17 August last year.
Rupert Doswell KC said the incident was possibly linked to a feud over drugs or a debt.
He said that Franklin stabbed Mr Marshall repeatedly in the chest, face and neck during an allegedly frenzied attack in his front garden in Roche Avenue, part of the Bell Farm Estate.
Mr Marshall managed to escape the garden but, as he fled, he collapsed in an alleyway and went into cardiac arrest. He was taken to York Hospital by ambulance but was pronounced dead at 5.25am, just 40 minutes after the fatal stab wounds were inflicted.
A post-mortem revealed the boxer had suffered fatal wounds to his chest, two of which penetrated his lungs and heart. He suffered 14 stab wounds in total, with other “incised” wounds to his neck and face.
Franklin was charged with murder, unlawful wounding and possessing a bladed article in a public place. He denied all allegations.
Franklin claimed he and his partner had gone outside and he armed himself with a kitchen knife after hearing her scream in the front garden. He said he saw Mr Marshall punch his partner and lunge at her.
He said at that point he “intervened” and that he “could have stabbed Greg Marshall twice” during the ensuing struggle.
Mr Doswell said there was no dispute that Franklin caused the fatal injuries to Mr Marshall. However, Franklin denies intending to cause the victim at least really serious harm, which the prosecution must prove to secure a conviction for murder and unlawful wounding.
He said it was not disputed that Rhodes suffered a wound to his arm, but Franklin claimed that Rhodes wasn’t in his garden during the incident and denies stabbing him.
The trial continues.