The killer of an Afghan refugee stabbed him with enough force to put a blade through his stomach and out of his back, a jury heard yesterday.

Forensic pathologist Nathaniel Cary told Oxford Crown Court that Enayit Khalili had suffered “massive bleeding” after he was stabbed once in the abdomen.

Mr Khalili, 26, a cleaner at Cowley police station, died as a result of the stab wound in Oxford in March last year.

Martin Joyce, 22, of Larch Hill, Bradford, Yorkshire, who denies murder, was in court as Mr Cary said the knife which killed Mr Khalili caused a 25cm track through his abdomen.

He said his examinations revealed the knife had cut through the victim’s stomach and pancreas and two major veins, before exiting near his spine.

Mr Cary said: “[The wound] actually goes out through the back. You have got a puncture through the body, with the tip of the bladed weapon, such as a knife, coming through the back.”

The pathologist said it would have required at least “moderate force” to put the knife through the “heavily built” victim.

He added: “We’re not talking about a pen knife, but equally we’re not talking about one of those hunting knives with a broad blade.”

“We’re probably talking about something like a kitchen knife.”

The trial continues.