Steven Murphy, who was allegedly murdered in Fakenham

A Fakenham man was murdered in a savage revenge plot provoked by an argument over a woman and carried out in the name of family honour, a court heard.

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Three men appeared at Norwich Crown Court yesterday accused of collaborating in the killing of 45-year-old Steven Murphy, who was stabbed at least 16 times in his King’s Road home on September 30 last year.

Andrew Cameron, 28, and his friend Alexander Dewar, 24, both from Blackpool, deny Mr Murphy’s murder.

The jury was told that Andrew Cameron planned the attack with his 53-year-old father James Cameron, but both men deny a separate charge of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

Karim Khalil QC, prosecuting, told the court of a feud between James Cameron and the victim which began because they were both interested in the same woman – Julianne Dowling, who lived at Hamilton Court in Fakenham.

Mr Khalil said James Cameron had pursued Ms Dowling and that Mr Murphy’s friendship with her had led to a number of fights between the two men.

The most recent altercation had left Andrew Cameron with a minor knife wound to his hand and, during the resulting investigation, Mr Murphy showed police a barrage of threatening text messages he had received from him.

Mr Khalil told the jury that the father’s threats had eventually been carried out by Andrew Cameron and Dewar, who were both “strong men with a history of violence”.

“The two of them carried out a plan which appeared to have been hatched between father and son,” he said. “James Cameron had made it his business to pursue Julianne Dowling and obviously fancied her. Her friendship with Steven Murphy rather got in the way.

“The attack was planned and carried out as revenge for whatever sleight had been caused to James Cameron and pursuant, no doubt, to the tag-line that Andrew Cameron spoke of later – that nobody messes with the Camerons.”

Mr Khalil said Dewar had studied criminology at Blackpool College, and the killers had left almost no forensic evidence at the scene. But he said some partial footprints in blood outside Mr Murphy’s home had been shown to match the size and brand of a pair of trainers seized from Dewar’s home after his arrest.

Evidence from mobile phone records, highway cameras, bank withdrawals and CCTV will also be used by the prosecution in a bid to prove the pair made a 500-mile round trip from Blackpool to Norfolk which coincided with the time of the murder.

Mr Khalil said witnesses would also tell the jury that the killers “boasted” of their exploits.

“Andrew Cameron made a number of confessions to people he knew. He confessed to planning and carrying out this attack and claimed to have disposed of his knife and his clothing,” said Mr Khalil.

“Alexander Dewar could not keep his activities to himself either. He was studying at Blackpool College and told fellow students about being involved in killing a person in Fakenham.”

Police also recovered a text message sent by James Cameron to his son on the day after the killing, allegedly containing abusive references to Mr Murphy and the phrase: “Good effort”.

The court heard Mr Murphy had a chequered history involving drug and alcohol problems in his former home town of Southampton, but had moved to Norfolk in March 2009 to “make a fresh start”.

Mr Khalil said a pathologist’s report showed a combination of severe wounds up to 16cms deep, and smaller incisions which suggested two different knives could have been used – one of which had pierced the victim’s heart.

The court heard James Cameron was a long-distance trucker who lived mostly in Scotland, but was based at Poplar Avenue in Felixstowe for his work.

The case is due to continue on Friday.