A MAN accused of murdering his parents described the "sheer panic" he felt when he discovered their stabbed bodies at the family's Melksham home when he gave evidence in his trial yesterday.

Michael Clarke said that he had never been in such a state as he was when he found his father's wounded body on the bedroom floor and then discovered his mother's body. The 21-year-old, of Berryfield Park, Melksham, said that he then panicked and ran out of the house to his neighbours' home.

He denies murdering Joan and Milroy Clarke, who used to be a Swindon police officer, on Tuesday, December 6, 2004, and denies handing a murder weapon and clothing to his friend Stuart Painter before a concert at Wembley Arena that day.

Painter, 22, of Beanacre Road, Melksham, denies one charge of assisting an offender.

Giving evidence from the witness box at Bristol Crown Court, Clarke told how he had been dropped off at home following a Blink 182 concert then discovered his parents had been killed.

He said: "I turned the landing light on then I walked up the stairs and found my dad who was on the floor.

"He was on the floor in his bedroom. He was on his back on his side.

"It was obvious he had been attacked. There was blood."

Asked by Neil Ford, defending, if he had killed his parents, Clarke replied: "No sir."

  • The case continues.