A YOUNG mother fatally stabbed a man who was fighting with her boyfriend, a jury heard.

Alison Walder, 22, ran barefoot from her home brandishing a kitchen knife as the two men fought in the street.

The mother-of-three inflicted two wounds with the blade in Adrian Ede's shoulder, causing him to bleed heavily.

The alleged attack was seen by a group of Mr Ede's friends and shocked neighbours in Parsons Close, Angmering.

Mr Ede, 29, who lived in Littlehampton, died soon afterwards from his injuries.

Walder denies murder at a trial at Lewes Crown Court.

Her boyfriend Lewis Martindale, 22, who lived with her, denies a charge of affray.

The jury heard the two men were good friends before they fell out weeks before the fatal fight on the night of September 15 last year.

Camden Pratt, QC, prosecuting, said police believed there had been a dispute about a Ford Orion car that Mr Ede had borrowed or taken from Martindale, who had reported the vehicle stolen on July 29.

Mr Ede was arrested after the car was found in Portslade but he was never charged.

However, the dispute led to bad feeling between the two men and there were angry confrontations whenever their paths crossed.

Mr Pratt said the Crown's case was that both men were up for a fight.

On the night of the stabbing, Mr Ede drove a group of friends to Parsons Close to visit another friend, who lived three doors away from Martindale and Walder.

When Martindale stood in the doorway of his home as the group left, Mr Ede taunted his former friend and shouted: "Bring it on Lewis."

Martindale is then alleged to have collected a samurai sword from inside his house and left it in the bin area.

Police believe he put it there to have easy access to the weapon if he needed it in a confrontation with Mr Ede.

Soon afterwards he put the sword back inside his house.

Mr Ede and his friends returned to Parsons Close later that evening and again parked near the couple's home.

The two men came face to face and a fight began. They were trading punches and wrestling with each other.

Walder suddenly ran out of the house and stabbed Mr Ede.

A witness said Mr Ede reacted by punching her in the face.

Walder then stabbed him again and he swore at her.

He was then heard to say: "That is ****ing great. Well done."

Mr Pratt said: "In that moment he probably realised what had happened to him."

Mr Pratt told the jury of five men and seven women they would have to decide if the two stab wounds were accidental.

He said: "The Crown's case is they were deliberate rather than an accident."

He said Walder's actions could not be excused as acts of self-defence or to protect her boyfriend.

He said: "The Crown says they were an inappropriate and excessive reaction and not lawfully justified acts of self-defence."

The trial continues.