Robert Ashman has admitted killing Andrew Pennington

Robert Ashman, 52, concealed the three-foot weapon in his overcoat and took it to the MP's weekly surgery, the court was told.

Paul Garlick QC, prosecuting, said Mr Ashman inflicted "terrible injuries" on Mr Jones before the MP fled to get help.

He then turned on the MP's aide, Gloucestershire county councillor Andrew Pennington, fatally stabbing him.

Mr Ashman denies attempting to murder Mr Jones, at the former Liberal Democrat headquarters in St George's Street, Cheltenham, on January 28, 2000.

He also denies an alternative charge of wounding Mr Jones with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Mr Ashman was a man who was totally obsessed with pursuing what he perceived to be his legal rights Paul Garlick QC

Mr Ashman has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Andrew Pennington, on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The prosecution has accepted this plea.

Defence counsel Paul Fitzgerald QC read the jury three admissions.

He said the defence admitted Mr Ashman killed Andrew Pennington while suffering from a severe mental disorder, that Mr Ashman unlawfully caused serious injury to Nigel Jones's hands, and that Mr Ashman had unlawfully wounded Mr Jones.

Mr Garlick told the jurors that father-of-two Mr Ashman regularly visited Mr Jones's weekly surgeries for advice on financial matters after he lost his job and his home was repossessed.

"Mr Ashman was a man who was totally obsessed with pursuing what he perceived to be his legal rights," he said.

It was the Crown's view that this obsession caused Mr Ashman to turn to violence - and that his intended victim was Mr Jones, rather than Mr Pennington.

Mr Garlick said the prosecution accepted Mr Ashman's plea that he was guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Pennington because he was suffering from diminished responsibility at the time.

But he said this plea was not a defence to a charge of attempted murder and said the Crown's case was that Mr Ashman was still capable of intending to kill Mr Jones.