'Evil monster' caged for life over drug-fuelled knife murder

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A man described by his victim's family as an "evil monster" is starting a life sentence after killing his pal in a "ferocious" ketamine fuelled knife attack.

James Preston, 21, viciously stabbed Joe Holland, 25, four times and left him with a further seven "incised wounds" at the killer's family home on Huyton House Road, Fincham, in the early hours of June 8 this year.Holland's body was discovered in a locked downstairs bathroom next to a handwritten note left by Preston which read: "It was me or him".

Preston had claimed he acted in self-defence, but his account was thrown out by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court last week, which found him guilty of murder by unanimous decision, reports Liverpool Echo.The jury had heard that on the night spirits between Preston and Mr Holland were positive and they attended a meal with a large group of friends at Jumbo Chinese Restaurant in Dovecot, followed by drinks in the Deysbrook pub in West Derby.

CCTV footage from both venues showed both men, and others in the group, openly snorting ketamine.Later on, Preston, Mr Holland and a mutual friend called Sean Ruud took a taxi back to Preston's mum's house on Huyton House Road, where they continued drinking and inhaling balloons filled with nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas.