An Ipswich man accused of killing his Kurdish flatmate said he fatally injured himself during a struggle in a remote country track.
Bako Azad Sheikha died in Distillery Lane, Colchester, in the early hours of September 12 last year after being stabbed through the heart.
It followed a scuffle between the 22-year-old and his flatmate Rakar Rahimi in the quiet lane during which neighbours witnessed “erratic” driving and heard screaming.
Chelmsford Crown Court has been told Bako suffered injuries consistent with being caused by a "crushing mechanism" as further eyewitnesses alleged he was run over by a car.
Rahimi, 23, who denies murdering Bako, fled to Dover, Kent, later that day as he tried to flee the country.
He was cross-examined by Christine Agnew, defending, today.
Rahimi alleged to jurors the pair had got into an argument in their flat in Haven Road, Colchester, after Bako suggested they have sex.
The court was told how both armed themselves with knives, before Rahimi asked Bako to drive him to the barbershop he worked at so he could sleep there instead.
But en route, Bako, who was driving his Nissan Qashqai, turned into Distillery Lane and a struggle ensued.
The defendant, who admitted having a knife between his legs in the car, claimed Bako had a blade in the driver’s door but when the car stopped Rahimi managed to throw both blades out the window.
“If anything happened I didn’t want anyone to get stabbed with the knives,” he told the jury.
“He [Bako] bent himself to the ground outside the car to pick up the knives and I went over his back as he tried to swing the knife and stab me.”
When asked by Ms Agnew how Bako got stabbed, Rahimi alleged: “He was trying to swing the knife in order to stab me when I was over his back.”
Rahimi, of Wellington Street, Ipswich, said he managed to get control of the car, manoeuvre it to face Haven Road and then drove off.
He claimed he did not know where his flatmate was as he drove off and said he was “panicked,” “distressed” and “terrified”.
Rahimi told the jury he did not stab Bako or intend to cause him “really serious harm”.
- The trial continues
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