AN ICE CREAM van driver was stabbed and killed by his son after an argument in his car, a court heard.
Italian Giuseppe Difina was allegedly stabbed twice by Vito Difina.
Yesterday, Vito, 40, of Cavendish Road, Carlton, went on trial at Nottingham Crown Court.
He is accused of his father's murder on September 10 last year and the alternative charge of manslaughter.
The court heard that an argument started between them after Vito, who pleads not guilty and suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, allegedly wanted his father to take him home.
His mother found Giuseppe, also known as Joe, alone and injured in the kitchen saying he had been stabbed.
Emergency services attended their home in Cliff Road, Carlton, and Giuseppe was taken to the intensive care unit at the Queen's Medical Centre.
He told a doctor, who asked him what happened, that his son had "done it", the court heard.
Giuseppe was said to have been attacked shortly after he arrived home in his Mitsubishi car.
Paul Mann QC, prosecuting, said: "He was stabbed at least twice and the weapon penetrated his chest."
His condition deteriorated and he died.
"The prosecution submit his killer, sadly, was his own son, Vito," said Mr Mann.
A neighbour allegedly heard Vito's voice that night saying he wanted his father to take him home, followed by an argument, shouting and bangs.
There were no eyewitnesses to the killing, so the prosecution is unable to say precisely where 68-year-old Giuseppe was when he was stabbed.
"However, when police looked at the Mitsubishi on the driveway they found drips of Joe's blood on the bottom of the driver's door sill and a smudge mark on the driver's seat," said Mr Mann.
"The car door was shut after the stabbing. It had been left unlocked and an expert is satisfied the blood could only have dripped on to the sill whilst the car door was open."
The case continues.
