A man killed his neighbour by “ruthlessly” stabbing him once in the stomach, a court head today.

Martin Joyce, 22, denies murdering Afghan refugee Enayit Khalili in March 2007.

Oxford Crown Court heard Joyce, of Larch Hill, in Bradford, had been staying at his fiancee’s mother’s house in Fiennes Road, Rose Hill, Oxford, opposite Mr Khalili’s home.

Adrian Redgrave QC, prosecuting, said Joyce had been seen arguing with a man on the doorstep of Mr Khalili’s house sometime before the alleged murder.

He said: “After a short time he (Joyce) came back saying ‘I am going to kill that foreigner one day’.”

The jury heard Mr Khalili, 26, died after receiving a single 25cm stab wound to the stomach but punctured vital organs.

Mr Redgrave said: “The prosecution case is that this defendant is a man who is given to the threat and the use of serious violence. This was one deliberate ruthless stab wound.”

The trial continues.