A MURDER suspect has denied stabbing a man in the head and said he thought the alleged victim was 'trying to kill him.'

Michael Yemane, of South Bridge Row in Oxford, faced cross-examination today as he tried to explain how his DNA was found on a knife at the scene of a fatal attack.

The 20-year-old is on trial at Oxford Crown Court with three others - Welid Solomon, 25, of Field Avenue, Oxford, Sasan Mohammed Khalid, 19, of no fixed abode, and Safeen Abdullah Karimi, 28, of Hode Garth, Thame.

They all deny murdering 22-year-old Luciano Dos Santos Almeida in Southfield Road, East Oxford, shortly after 11.30pm on February 27.

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Yemane said he himself was attacked by Mr Almeida and 'thought he was trying to kill me,' but managed to disarm him and take his knife.

Earlier in the trial this week, the same defendant claimed a man - who he believed to be Mr Almeida - had robbed him of cash and drugs that night.

He admitted later chasing Mr Almeida and said Khalid was alongside him in the pursuit, but Yemane denied carrying a knife on him.

He told the court he saw Khalid holding 'something shiny' in his hand, but he could not see it clearly, and Khalid also 'threw something' with an overarm swing while giving chase.

He also said Solomon was carrying a knife.

Barrister David Hislop QC, defending Solomon, suggested Yemane did have a knife on him.

The barrister presented CCTV and alleged it showed him pulling something from his pocket at the bottom of Southfield Road.

Yemane denied this was a knife, and said he was just pulling his hand out of his pocket.

Mr Hislop said: "You know this man you are chasing is very dangerous, he is armed with a knife because you've just seen it - do you say you bravely chased him with no weapon?"

Yemane responded: "Yes."

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The court heard how Mr Almeida suffered a 'sharp force injury' to his buttock which, earlier in the trial, an expert said could have been the result of a stabbing while being chased from behind.

Yemane said it was not until further up the road, near Sinnet Court flats, that there was a 'struggle' between Mr Almeida and himself.

He said this is when he was attacked and when he grabbed the knife, then threw it.

Mr Hislop said: "The knife had your DNA on it, the tip of which ended up in [Mr Almeida's] skull."

Prosecutors claim that Mr Almeida was hit by a car before being fatally stabbed multiple times.

Mr Hislop added: "You took that knife back to the car after the attack, because you had used it in the attack - you didn't drop it.

"You then threw it out [of the window] as the car left."

Mr Yemane denied this.

The barrister added: "You are frightened - you know you stabbed him in the head, and you stabbed him more than once.

"That's why your jacket and lower clothing were so bloodied - because you were stabbing this man."

Yemane denied this.

The trial continues.