WITNESSES told a murder trial how they desperately tried to save a 19-year-old Oxford man after his car flipped over.

Accountant Joshua Harling, from Headington, is alleged to have been stabbed on the night of July 22 last year.

He had got into his green VW Polo to drive away after a street fight – jurors at Oxford Crown Court previously heard – but crashed on Chinnor Road, Thame, with the car ‘flying through the air’ before landing upside down.

His 15-year-old passenger ‘scrambled’ out of the car, but Mr Harling could not be saved after efforts from Air Ambulance doctors, paramedics, firefighters, and CPR from people who lived on the road.

Prosecutors allege that Nathan Braim, 20, of Broadwaters Avenue, Thame, and Benjamin Eyles, 19, of Monks Hollow, Buckinghamshire, killed Mr Harling – which they both deny.

The pair appeared over video link for the trial at the court yesterday, Braim dressed in a grey and white tracksuit jacket and blue face mask and Eyles in a blue shirt, tie, and blazer.

In statements read to the court, witness Christopher Sparks, a doctor who lives near the scene of the crash, explained how he tried to save his life.

He said he had been out running with his wife Claire, also a doctor, on the fateful Wednesday evening when he ‘sprinted ahead’ before ‘turning back and heard her scream’.

He said he saw the car in the road with ‘a lot of cash’ on the floor nearby, adding: “Then I saw a young blond man scramble out of the car.

“My first thought was that he was joy riding.

“I looked into the car and I saw Josh.

“I asked if he was okay. He opened his eyes and I remember thinking how pale he looked.”

He said Mr Harling started ‘scrabbling’ around before closing his eyes.

At first, he was worried the teenager had hurt his back in the crash and didn’t want to move him, but eventually heard from the passenger that he had been stabbed and pulled him out of the car.

He said: “I asked how long ago [he had been stabbed] and he said one to two minutes. “Claire started compressions and gave some breaths. We heard sirens but we quickly realised that it was the fire service.

“The fire gave their defib and it found no rhythmic output. There was a two-inch wide wound and it was pouring with blood.”

When other emergency services started to arrive, he stepped back, saying he only realised how ‘dire’ the situation was when he saw it had been 25 minutes.

About 20 minutes later Mr Harling was pronounced dead.

In other evidence, one of Braim's neighbours - a teenage girl - took to the witness box and said she had been walking to Elms Park on July 18, days before the alleged murder, and had heard Braim in his garden with a group of boys saying loudly: “I’m going to make sure he gets it.”

She only told police when they questioned her on the night he died.

The trial at Oxford Crown Court continues.