A teenage girl who allegedly stabbed to death a man in Wells told his partner she did it for her as he lay dying near his flat, a jury heard this week.

Stacey Hyde is said to have stabbed 34-year-old Vincent Francis 17 times with a carving knife.

The 18-year-old defendant, of Reid Court, Charter Way, Wells, had been out drinking with Mr Francis' partner, Holly Banwell, and was said to be drunk when she returned to the couple's flat in Welsh Court, Charter Way.

Hyde had apparently collapsed on the bed when she heard her friend shouting and was said to have "charged" into the kitchen where Miss Banwell and Mr Francis were having a row.

Miss Banwell told the jury at Bristol Crown Court that Hyde jumped on her boyfriend and they began hitting each other.

The fight was said to have moved out of the flat into a communal hall where 72-year-old Pamela Thompson was roused from her bed to find Mr Francis trying to swing Hyde around by her pony tail while Miss Banwell screamed.

Miss Banwell and Mrs Thompson told how the violence came to an end when Hyde grabbed a carving knife from the flat and stabbed Mr Francis in the back before plunging the blade into his chest.

The dying man was tended by his girlfriend and Mrs Thompson, who tried to staunch his blood with towels. He was rushed to hospital by an ambulance crew but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Hyde denies a single charge of murder.

Opening the case, Ian Pringle, prosecuting, told how Mr Francis was stabbed to death in the early hours of September 4 last year outside his home.

He said: "Knives, members of the jury, in the hands of inebriated, drunk, angry people can become a deadly weapon. In the case you are about to hear, Stacey Hyde, this defendant, was just that drunk, angry person who armed herself with a very large carving knife, and as the deceased in this case, Vincent Francis, was walking away with his back to her she viciously attacked him, stabbing him two or three times in his back, then as he turned around, she stabbed him in his chest.

"She stabbed him at one stage so that she pierced his lung. She fatally wounded him and he died within an hour or so of that terrible attack."

Mr Pringle said Mr Francis had lived in Welsh Court, Charter Way, Wells, with his girlfriend, Holly Banwell, and the couple had a relationship, described as close, but violent at times.

He said their drink-fuelled violent rows were heard by neighbours, and Hyde, a friend of Miss Banwell's, had known about the violence.

On September 3 last year, Mr Pringle said Hyde had met Miss Banwell at the hairdressing salon where she worked and decided to go for a drink.

He said they went to the Bell hotel at Shepton Mallet, then returned to Wells and went to the Rose and Crown because Miss Banwell thought her boyfriend would be there. However, the woman stayed outside while Hyde, who was drunk, went in and tried to get Mr Francis to come out. She failed and caught a taxi with her friend back to her flat at around 12.30am on September 4.

"Miss Banwell knew there may be problems if she brought Stacey back but was hopeful she could persuade Vince, as he was known, to let her stay. They found Vince in the kitchen. Holly Banwell went into the kitchen and started to make some coffee. The defendant went straight into the bedroom where she lay down and seemingly passed out.

"Within a short period of time an argument started between Holly and Vince in the kitchen. The argument escalated and Vince pushed Holly who shouted out and cried 'where's Stacey?'

"Stacey came running out of the bedroom and ran into the kitchen and immediately struck Vince. She got on top of him. She was, to use the words of Holly Banwell, going mental.

"Vince struck her. Stacey struck him. Faced with this fight between her boyfriend and friend, Holly Banwell rang for the police.

"Such was the noise generated by screaming, in the main by Stacey, that the neighbour, Pamela Thompson, was awoken."

Mrs Thompson said the defendant went back into the flat and came out with a large knife and stabbed Mr Francis in the back at the communal front door, before he turned and she stabbed him again in the chest.

In a recorded 999 conversation, Miss Banwell was heard reporting the violence to police while Hyde screamed in the background. She told police: "She stabbed him. Oh my God. Oh my God."

Mr Pringle said that after the stabbing, Hyde turned to her friend and said: "Holly, I did it. I did it for you. I don't like the way he treats you."

Vincent Francis' sister Deborah Webber, speaking after the first day in court, said: "It's dreadful, I shouldn't have to be here. It should never have happened. Nobody wants to die, but nobody wants to die like that."

The trial continues.