Trial hears how defendant Dr Peter Brooks came to be arrested in Southwell hours after colleague Graham Perks had been stabbed

The trial of a plastic surgeon accused of the attempted murder of a colleague has heard how he came to be arrested.

Nottingham Crown Court heard from prosecutors that the caretaker of a property in Southwell rang for an ambulance after finding Dr Peter Brooks slumped in a garden.

The caretaker said Dr Brooks was clad in a camouflage outfit, was wearing a head torch and had a black rucksack with him.

The caretaker recollected that Dr Brooks told him his name was Peter and he was from Landseer Road in Southwell and that he was about to lose his job.

Paramedics attended and recorded Dr Brooks to be covered in mud and was wearing a glove that was soaked in blood.

A drug was administered in the belief that Dr Brooks had taken an overdose.

He had a badly gashed hand and was taken to hospital.

It was there that he was arrested. A blood sample was taken for a possible match with blood left at the scene of the stabbing of colleague Graeme Perks hours earlier at his home at Halam Hill.

It is alleged Dr Brooks broke into the the Perks' home with the intention of setting the house alight, soaking the downstairs in petrol before he was disturbed by Mr Perks who was awakened by the sounds of someone breaking in.

As his wife and son came downstairs, Mr Perks staggered from the darkness of the drawing room, saying he had been stabbed and for an ambulance to be called.

It is alleged Dr Brooks cycled to Perks' home in full camouflage in the early hours of a cold and snowy January 14 last year armed with cans of petrol, matches, a crowbar and a knife with the intention of setting light to the house.

A 999 call from Dr Brook's wife Joanne was played to the the court in which she reports her husband missing, having found blood in the garage at their home at Landseer Road, Southwell.

Police immediately attend and secure the scene.

Dr Brooks, 58, has elected to defend himself at the trial.

He is being tried for the attempted murder of Graeme Perks, arson with intent to endanger the life of Mr Perks, his wife Beverley and their son Henry, as well as possession of a knife — all of which are denied.

Wearing a cream suit and bow tie, he has attended court today and studies documents in a bundle as the prosecution reads written statements to the jury.

The jury has heard that disciplinary proceedings brought by Nottingham City Hospitals Trust against Dr Brooks started during lockdown on January 11 of last year via Microsoft Teams.

Mr Perks was Dr Brooks' line manager and had provided a statement for the proceedings that had been disclosed to Dr Brooks.

The prosecution say Dr Brooks had refused to take part in those proceedings a day before the attack on Mr Perks.

The trial continues...