Killer “had long knife in his bag”

John Ward (53) from Denaby Main, told Hull Crown Court yesterday morning that he had known Heald a long time.

He said Heald, who stands accused of murdering landlady Bei Carter and raping a Sheffield woman, turned up at his flat with a brand new knife in his bag.

This did not seem unusual as Heald was a workman and had a job with a fencing firm, Mr Ward said.

It came after Heald, of Foljambe Road, Dalton, rang Mr Ward on the morning of July 13 and said he was coming to see him.

The pair met at a market and had a cup of tea and went back to Mr Ward’s flat at around noon.

Mr Ward said Heald seemed tired, and had sat near the window.

“He asked if he could stop a few days,” Mr Heald said.

Mr Ward said he looked in Heald’s bag and saw medication, clothes and a knife.

“The knife looked like a jagged blade, with a blue handle and was about eight inches long,” he said.

“It's not unusual to see him with a workman’s knife. He always had odd jobs on.”

Heald has admitted killing Mrs Carter at her Bridlington guesthouse last July but said the stabbing was an accident.

He also denies three counts of raping a woman known to him five days earlier.

The trial continues.