A MAN with an interest in knives murdered his housemate at a party, a court has been told.

Martyn Michael Ford, 19, denies the murder of 23-year-old Michael Kenneth Gatenby, who died from knife wounds that pierced his left lung and heart.

Mr Ford, who later told police he wanted to move out of the house, was said to have a "certain interest" in knives.

The alleged murder weapon - a large knife said to have been bought by Ford earlier that evening - was shown to the jury at Teesside Crown Court by Gilbert Gray, prosecuting. He said: "It is a knife that can inflict fearful injury and, indeed, did."

A jury of four men and eight women was sworn in for Mr Ford's trial, which is expected to last about a week.

Mr Gray told them that the defendant, of Brunel Way, Darlington, plunged the knife into the back of his friend at the end of the party in Darlington on July 12.

The court was told that at the time, Mr Gatenby was lying on top of his girlfriend on a sofa.

She said she thought he had been punched.

The jury was told that he staggered out of the house where Mr Ford stabbed him again - this time in the shoulder.

He cradled him and phoned for an ambulance, but ran off when a van approached, the court heard.

Mr Gray said: "Why did he run away if something had happened which had nothing to do with him?"

In a police statement following his arrest, Mr Ford said: "I have no recollection of the stabbing. I ran after him and saw him fall to the ground. I grabbed hold of him and phoned for an ambulance.

"I stayed with him until a van came and I ran off and panicked.

"While I accept I must have stabbed Michael, I have no recollection of doing it.

"I must have had a temporary and sudden loss of control because I was not the master of my own mind."

The court heard from two friends and former work colleagues, who said Mr Ford had drunk a lot of alcohol at the party.

They said that when they arrived, they had been looking at a sheath knife in Mr Ford's bedroom. Witness Daniel Large said there had been a confrontation between the pair when he left at about 11.30pm.

The trial continues.