Reveller murdered a 27-year-old man with an axe after smoking notorious legal high Spice

AN AXE-WIELDING murderer hacked a man to death in a bloody legal high-fuelled rage on New Year’s Eve, a court heard.

Brendon Willis slaughtered Christopher Butler, 27, at a party - just minutes before ringing in the new year.

The 33-year-old killer was smoking psychoactive drug Spice before the brutal bloodbath.

Sick Willis bragged to a horrified partygoer Neil McAvery that he had butchered his 27-year-old victim with EIGHT blows of the axe.

He attacked tragic Mr Butler at the party in Southsea, Hampshire, just minutes before midnight then later confessed “I’ve done Chris.”

Prosecutor Robert Forrest opened the case against Neal Stacey, who is accused of cleaning and concealing the weapon at his home, also in Waverley Road, yesterday.

He told Winchester Crown Court that Willis had confessed and said 49-year-old Stacey had not been involved in the killing.

Mr Forrest said: "The pair sat down on the stairs together and Willis said these chilling words to Mr McAvery - 'I've done Chris.'

"Mr McAvery at this stage didn't know what to make of it and he asked Willis what on earth he was on about.

"Willis replied, 'I've done him, I've put him out of his misery, I've hit him with an axe four times.’

"Mr McAvery was shocked and also at this stage didn't really believe what he was being told, so as if to prove a point Willis disappeared upstairs, came back shortly afterwards, and from out his jacket produced an item.

"The item, Mr McAvery said, was an axe. He said that the blade of the axe was covered in blood."

Giving evidence, Mr McAvery said he had still not fully believed Willis.

“He hit him four times with the sharp end, heard him gurgle, so he spun him round and hit him four times with the blunt end, that's what he said to me,” he said.

The court heard how Willis, who pleaded guilty at an earlier court hearing, made Mr McAvery promise he would not go in a room in the house for three hours.

However, Mr McAvery did go in the room and made the grisly discovery of Mr Butler’s body.

Jurors then heard how he shouted 'there's been a murder, someone's killed' calling for help before a neighbour called 999.

CCTV footage played to the court from that evening showed Stacey with 24-year-old Yasmin McCue near a Kwiki-Mart in Southsea, before Willis approached them with a blue rucksack.

The stills showed Willis going into the shop before all three left for Stacey's home, with Stacey carrying the rucksack.

According to Miss McCue, Willis had taken the axe out of the bag and told them he had used the axe.

Stacey then took the axe out to the back garden and hid it in a bath before all three took heroin, the court heard.

Police searched the bath, which was filled with rubbish and rainwater, on January 1 but did not find the axe until they searched again on January 3.

Stacey denies a charge of perverting the course of justice. The trial continues.