The jury was told an earlier row led to a fight outside the Empire bar in Swadlincote
A man who denies murdering a teenager during a fight has insisted the stabbing was an accident.
Dante Francis, 17, from Leicester, died several days after an altercation outside the Empire Bar in Swadlincote, Derbyshire on 10 April.
At Nottingham Crown Court, Dominic Halliday-Fox, 21, of Derby, said his girlfriend had argued with Mr Francis.
Mr Halliday-Fox admitted having the knife but said it was only to scare Mr Francis after punches had been thrown.
He told the jury he carried the knife for self-defence, as he had been stabbed four times in the past.
Armed police
Prosecution barrister Peter Joyce QC said CCTV showed the death was not an accident and Mr Halliday-Fox was the aggressor, who had run towards Mr Francis and stabbed him twice.
"You stabbed him on purpose", Mr Joyce said. "Did you lose face in front of your friends, when he punched you? Is that why you stabbed him?"
But the 21-year-old insisted the injuries were not intentional.
The jury heard Mr Halliday-Fox had a difficult childhood, with his mother's drug habit meaning he was taken into foster care.
It also heard he had a number of convictions, for robberies, theft and assault.
When he found out Mr Francis had died he said he did not hand himself in because he "panicked".
The court heard he was eventually arrested in Derby where armed police found him hiding in a friend's loft.
The judge is due to begin summing up on Friday.
- Published26 October 2016
- Published15 April 2016
