A MAN has pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility after stabbing a ‘friend of a friend’ in the neck on Christmas Eve in 2015.

Joseph Storr, 25, of Jellicoe Close, Cippenham, killed Warren Duke,48, in Mr Duke’s own home while he was staying there.

He pleaded guilty today (Wednesday) at Reading Crown Court to the charge after it emerged he had been in poor mental health at the time.

However Thames Valley Police (TVP) said it might never be fully known what had happened in Mr Duke’s home after paramedics arrived on December 24 at 6.40pm to find him with a single stab wound to the neck.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Nora Holford, said: “Storr had nowhere to stay at the time of the offence. Mr Duke agreed to Storr sleeping at his house as a favour to one of his friends.

“Storr and Mr Duke were the only two people in the house at the time of the offence so we will never know exactly what happened on the evening of Christmas Eve 2015, but we do know that Storr stabbed Mr Duke in the neck, causing fatal injuries.

“I am pleased that Joseph Storr has pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility due to his poor mental health at the time of the offence.

“This is a tragic case and our thoughts remain with Warren Duke’s family and friends at this extremely difficult time.”

Mr Duke also lived in Jellicoe Close, Cippenham, which is where he died. Storr is due to be sentenced at the same court on June 22.