A judge has begun summing up in the case of a Leiston man accused of stabbing another man fuelled by jealousy.

All the evidence in the case of Oskars Kantors, 29, has now been heard at Ipswich Crown Court. He is accused of murdering 41-year-old Agris Leigavnieks in Leiston in October last year.

Kantors, of Old School Close, Leiston, has denied one count of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

On Monday, November 13, both the prosecution and defence delivered their final arguments before the jury.

Prosecution barrister Simon Spence KC said that the “predominant factor operating on [Kantors’] mind that night was jealousy.”

Earlier in the trial, Kantors had admitted wanting to put Leigavnieks “in hospital”, believing him to be having an affair with Kantors’ girlfriend, but did not intend to kill him.

Kantors also admitted to being a “functioning alcoholic”, having begun drinking alcohol at the age of nine when he lived in an orphanage in Latvia.

The prosecution disputes whether Kantors’ reliance on alcohol means that his actions should be viewed with diminished responsibility.

However, defence barrister Rudi Forston cautioned the jury to be wary of “stereotyping”.

“We are not dealing with a ‘functioning alcoholic,’” he said. “We are dealing with a person with a recognised medical condition, and it has got a name: alcohol dependency syndrome.

“Other factors may be at play, such as anger or jealousy, but they do not cancel out an abnormality of mental functioning.”

Judge Martyn Levett began his summary of evidence for the jury on Monday afternoon, but was forced to end the session early due to technical difficulties with the auditory equipment used by a juror who is hard of hearing.

A verdict is expected to be returned later this week.