Model Luke Harden 'killed in sudden, brutal attack' after party

A male model was killed in an assault "so sudden, so quick, and so brutal" that he had no chance to defend himself, a court has heard. Luke Harden, 36, died on Newchurch Road in Bacup, Lancashire, shortly after midnight on 1 November after paramedics were unable to resuscitate him. Bhekisani Matabiswana, 26, has gone on trial at Preston Crown Court, where he denies murder. The court heard the defendant, of St James Street, Bacup, tried to leave the country and was held at Manchester Airport two days after an altercation between him and Harden following a party. The men were not known to each other, the jury was told, but had both attended a Halloween party at Rosemount Working Men's Club in Stacksteads. Harden, Matabiswana and his girlfriend Nicola Chadwick were under the influence of alcohol and Harden may have been affected by consumption of ketamine and cocaine, the trial heard. Also at the party was Chadwick's friend Helen Skinner and her partner Josh. Harden was there with his friend Matt Alden and his girlfriend Jenny Eccles. At 23:24 GMT, Matabiswana and Chadwick left to go to another pub, walking down Newchurch Road. Harden remained in the club, at one point slipping and fa