A man has stabbed a love rival 30 times & burnt his body in a revenge attack.

Alan Maidment, 40, is now on trial & accused of murdering Thomas Eugene Jones, the new lover of his ex girlfriend, in the victim's Salford flat at about midnight on March 22.

Prosecutors say that Mr Maidment repetitively stabbed Mr Jones, 47, in the kitchen of his home in Berry Street, Clifton, before dragging him into the living room & setting his body on fire.

 

47-year-old Thomas Jones was found dead after a fire at a flat on Berry Street in Clifton

The jury was told that Mr Maidment committed a number of robberies on passengers at the South Chadderton Metrolink stop in Oldham, on March 30, while high on drink & drugs.

The court heard that Mr Maidment was wearing 2 layers of clothing during the alleged murder & he later dumped one set of garments in the canal.

The Crown say that Mr Maidment's motivation for the murder was to 'punish' Mr Jones for purportedly assaulting an ex girlfriend of both men, Natalie Strickland.

Mr Hutchinson, who did not know Mr Maidment, saw the defendant at the scene & was told by him that Mr Jones was dead but that Ms Strickland was fine, the court heard.