Man accused of stabbing antiques dealer to death was ‘also plotting kidnaps and raids on Kate Moss and Simon Cowell’

AN alleged murderer who is accused of stabbing a historian to steal a £50,000 first edition of The Wind in the Willows" also plotted kidnaps and raids on Kate Moss and Simon Cowell", a court heard.

Michael Danaher reportedly stabbed Adrian Greenwood 33 times in the chest, neck and back when he refused to hand over the rare copy of the children's novel.

The accused killer also planned to kidnap Kate Moss' family and politician Jeffrey Archer to demand ransoms, Oxford Crown Court heard.

In 2015, he googled information about the homes of Rio Ferdinand, Katie Hopkins, Eamonn Holmes, Greg Dyke, Michael Parkinson, Kate Moss, Lord Alan Sugar and ex-Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson's son Darren.

Danaher also tried to find the address of former Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire Adam Simmonds.

Prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC told the court: "He's trying to find out their addresses and he's saving information under the heading 'Enterprise'.

"This wasn't him casually taking a look, these are focused and considered enquiries and the common theme was people with money.

"It seemed to irk him that some of the targets were associated with the Conservative Party and he wrote 'stun Tory' next to certain names on his list."

Brave Adrian, 42, desperately fought for his life and tried to grab the knife off the unemployed 50-year-old, who stamped on him repeatedly when he was down.

The "killer" dad-of-two kept a detailed spreadsheet on his laptop called "Enterprises, which showed he was targeting Kate Moss, Wonga investor Adrian Beecroft and Lord Jeffrey Archer.

On the "brutal" list he wrote words such as "daughter" and "sister" next to the name of wealthy relatives he intended to take hostage after knocking them out with a stun gun.

Danaher drove to from his flat in Peterborough to Adrian's four-storey house on Iffley Road, Oxford on the morning of April 6.

After cunning his way inside the home, he carried out the "savage attack" before helping himself to the valuable book and Adrian's wallet, phone and laptop, leaving the historian for dead.

The avid Harry Potter collector was found in a pool of blood by his cleaner in the hallway of his £640,000 home at around 3pm the following day.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene and forensic investigators cordoned off four properties in the street as they swept the area for clues.

Danaher was arrested at his home three days later and a stun gun was found at his address after police traced Adrian's mobile phone signal to north Peterborough.

Detectives identified the suspect - who has no criminal record - after trawling through hours of CCTV footage and spotting his blue Citroen Picasso travelling along the same route Adrian's phone was last detected at.

He denied having anything to do with the death when police quizzed him, but later admitted killing the collector - claiming it was in self-defence.

A murder weapon has never been recovered and police allege Danaher chucked it after fleeing the scene.

Opening the Crown's case, prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC said: "On the afternoon of April 7, the lady who did some cleaning for Adrian Greenwood knocked on his front door and there was no answer so she let herself in.

"Adrian's body was lying in the hallway, he had been the victim of a savage attack. In fact, he had been dead for a day or so.

"It takes a certain person to have done what the defendant did to Adrian Greenwood. To enter his house, stab him in the back and then the chest and neck.

"And then to stamp on him and leave him for dead, then cool as you like search his house for things to steal as he lay dying, presumably having to step around him as he did so.

"Within hours of that busied himself by posting the book for sale on the internet. Underpinning it all was greed. It was cool, calculated and controlled."