THE wife of Moses Devall seemed surprised to hear he had been stabbed despite later claiming she was speaking to him on the phone when he was killed, a court has heard.

Traveller Mr Devall was stabbed to death outside his home in Swallowtail Close, St Paul's Cray, at around 12.30am on October 31, 2009.

Jimmy Saunders, aged 21, of the Powerscroft Road travellers site in Sidcup, is standing trial for the murder of the 36-year-old father-of-two at the Old Bailey.

Mr Devall's wife Sarah Schock, aged 37, had told the jury she was speaking to him on the phone when he was stabbed and he named Jimmy Saunders as his killer.

However, this afternoon her friend Laura Philips told the jury Mrs Schock seemed surprised when another friend, Wendy Roberts, told her Mr Devall had been stabbed.

The three women were outside Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough, where Mrs Schock was being treated for injuries suffered in an attack in the Priory Tavern in Orpington High Street earlier in the night.

Miss Philips told the jury Miss Roberts received a phone call from someone to tell her Mr Devall had been stabbed and then relayed the information to Mrs Schock.

Rachel Darby, defending Saunders, asked Miss Philips: “As far as you were concerned it did not appear to you that Sarah Schock knew in advance that Moses had been stabbed?”

Miss Philips replied: “No.”

The jury had previously heard Henry Grunwald, who is also defending Saunders, accuse Mrs Schock of lying about the phone conversation she claims to have had with her husband.

Saunders' brother John Saunders, aged 30, sister Laura Saunders, aged 29, and her 30-year-old husband Levi Coates all pleaded guilty to assault causing GBH in relation to the attack on Mrs Schock in the Priory Tavern during a hearing at the Old Bailey last month.

Jimmy Saunders is also standing trial for a charge of assault causing GBH in relation to this attack on Mrs Schock.

Katie Bignall, aged 22, from Ash in Kent, is standing trial alongside Jimmy Saunders for two counts of assisting an offender.

She is alleged to have helped Jimmy and Laura Saunders avoid capture by the police after the attacks.

Jimmy Saunders and Bignall deny all the charges.

The trial continues.