Moment blood-soaked killer tells cops friend 'fell on knife' after stabbing him to death over prank

This is the moment a "vengeful and vindictive" told police his pal "fell on a knife" after he over an eyebrow prank. Matthew Higgins, 36, still had blood all over his hands when rushed into the to detain him. His close friend David Eaton, 37, had woken up that morning to find his left eyebrow missing after Higgins shaved it off as part of a drunken prank.

A brawl then broke out at his home near Northwich, , where a furious Higgins launched a brutal knife attack on David, stabbing him twice in the heart. Moments later, the killer ran to a neighbour's house covered in blood, saying: "I've stabbed my mate. He was doing my head in."

In haunting footage of Higgins' arrest, he is heard telling officers: "he fell on a knife...he actually fell on a knife". A cop then breaks the news to Higgins that David had died, and that he was now being held on suspicion of murder. When the officer explains he cannot go any further into the circumstances, Higgins says: "Sweet", adding: "F*** the bed...He fell on a f***ing knife, for f*** sake".

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Chester Crown Court heard the friends were out drinking in September last year when David, known as Bode, fell asleep on the sofa, and then woke up without a left eyebrow. A "scuffle" then ensued where David "got the better" of Higgins. The pals had at first "appeared to brush themselves off and continue their day" until Higgins blamed their other friend for the prank.

After that friend denied it and swore on his mother's life, David realised Higgins must have been responsible for the drunken joke and went back to his house where another fight broke out. David's on-off girlfriend Emma Deed told the court he had punched Higgins, who responded: "I'm not putting up with this."

She said: "I thought Matty went upstairs but Bode then went to the hallway and there was a bit of an argument. I heard Bode shout 'knife' then 'you've actually stabbed me. Emma he's stabbed me'. I asked Matty to let go of the knife, but he refused, saying: 'No, he's not hitting me again'. I then heard Bode say 'I'm sorry', before he slumped over. 'I was in a daze and I was screaming out to the neighbours. I was saying to Bode 'stay with us, you're alright, you're fine, you're alright'."

David was left seriously injured after suffering two stab wounds that were 12 and 14.5cm deep. The kitchen knife had penetrated his ribcage and entered his heart. Detective Inspector Eleanor Atkinson said: "The afternoon that David was killed, Higgins chose to pick up a knife and let his anger get the better of him - that decision had devastating consequences. Despite knowing what he had done, he denied the charge of murder and forced David’s loved one to sit through a two-and-a-half week trial. But the jury saw through his lies and convicted him of murder.

"I welcome the sentence handed down to Higgins and while nothing can bring David back to his family and friends, I hope the fact Higgins is now behind bars for his murder will bring them some sense of closure, knowing justice has been served."

Judge Steven Everett told Higgins in court: "It made you behave in a vengeful and vindictive way. You decided you were going to do something about it. You lured him into the hallway and then repeatedly stabbed him." Everett then jailed him life with a minimum term of 18 years.