A DRUG addict thought he had dreamt stabbing a man after taking drugs and drink, a jury was told.

Ben Harvey, of Ridges View, Little London, is accused of killing William Rudiak, 26, of Winchester Road, Chandler’s Ford, who was discovered at a home in Turin Court on June 11, last year.

Winchester Crown Court today (Monday, January 21) heard that at 2.57am Mr Harvey entered the home of Alexandra Taylor, Mr Rudiak’s girlfriend, through an open window and armed with a large kitchen knife.

Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, said: “[He] went up the stairs and fatally stabbed William Rudiak. William Rudiak in the early hours of the morning was fast asleep, he lay in bed next to his girlfriend.

“It was during the course of him [Mr Rudiak] being fatally stabbed Alexandra Taylor woke up not because William had been stabbed but she felt someone biting her cheek.”

Mr Harvey, 22, fled the scene, leaving the knife in Ms Taylor’s bedroom.

In a police interview, Ms Taylor said that she saw “blood everywhere” and called 999, adding: “He looked so scared. I couldn’t help him.”

The court heard that Mr Harvey went to another address in a village close to Andover after the incident, where he attempted to sexually assault a teenage girl.

The prosecution said that he “burst” into the victim’s room had tried to remove her pyjama shorts and in doing so “smothered her face with his hand”.

The jury were told Mr Harvey had an addiction to cocaine and cannabis and had run up a debt of about £11,000.

In the hours before the stabbing Mr Harvey had bought and taken drugs from a dealer in Andover.

After the news broke about Mr Rudiak’s death Mr Harvey told his girlfriend and parents that he thought he had been dreaming about stabbing somebody.

And speaking to his girlfriend, after she discovered that he had been at Turin Court in the early hours of the morning through black box records on his insurance, Mr Harvey said: “I don’t know, it was just a random house and I thought it was a dream.”

Adam Feest QC, defending, said that Mr Harvey’s actions are not disputed but it is argued with he had intent to commit the offences.

He added: “He [Mr Harvey] had taken a quantity of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine. The effect and or the combination of the drink and drugs had a completely different effect on him than he had experienced previously.

“He has very little recollection of the following few hours.”

Mr Harvey is facing charges of murder and trespass with intent to commit sexual offence. Today he pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, after the prosecution altered the earlier charge of aggravated burglary.

The trial continues.