A MAN accused of murder said "mam I think I’ve killed him" minutes after stabbing his brother in the heart, a court heard.

Vincent Bell, 36, is said to have stabbed Damian Banks, 34, three times with a kitchen knife at his home in Durham in a “sustained attack fuelled by cocaine, alcohol and anger”.

Teesside Crown Court heard the pair spent the evening of March 30 drinking and taking drugs but Bell became agitated when his brother - who had a broken leg - took too long to meet a drug dealer.

Jamie Hill QC, prosecuting, said Bell murdered his younger brother “plain and simple”.

Bell, of Turnbull Close, Durham, denies a single charge of murder.

Mr Hill said: “In the early hours of March 30 this year Vincent Bell stabbed his brother Damian Banks during an alcohol and cocaine fuelled row. However that dispute began, this was murder, plain and simple.

“During the course of the evening Vincent Bell was in his flat with three other people, Damian Banks and two women. The four of them spent several hours drinking and taking cocaine.

“As midnight approached Vincent Bell was aware some benefit money was going to put in his bank account. The cocaine was going to run out and he told his younger brother to get some money and some more cocaine.

“He gave Damian his bank card to withdraw some money for cocaine. Damian protested at first, he didn’t want to go because he had broken his leg.”

But the court heard that while Mr Banks was on his way to withdraw cash and meet the drug dealer, Bell became increasingly agitated and a scuffle between the brothers escalate.

Mr Hill said: “One of the witnesses heard Bell shouting ‘where is my f***ing money, where is my f***ing stuff?’. Damian started wielding his crutch over Vincent Bell’s head, causing it to bleed.

“Vincent Bell rushed out of the living room into the kitchen. The woman heard him rattling in a drawer and he came back with a knife. She saw him brandishing the knife and Damian said ‘what are you going to kill me?’

“Minutes later she saw Damian come backwards out of the living room and collapsing onto his back and he said ‘he stabbed me’.”

The court heard Mr Banks suffered three stab wounds, one through the heart, as well as “defensive injuries” including cuts on his hands. One of the women also sustained a slash across her hand as she tried to break up the fight.

Minutes after the attack, Bell is said to have fled the scene to his mother’s home in a nearby street, where he left the knife and said: "Mam I think I killed Damian".

Despite the best efforts of emergency workers and undergoing open heart surgery on his brother's living room floor, Mr Banks was pronounced dead as he was rushed to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

The court heard Bell, who fled to his ex-boyfriend's house, where he was arrested, told police he grabbed the knife to protect himself from his younger brother who hit him across the head with his crutch, causing it to bleed. He also denied taking cocaine and being drunk.

But Mr Hill said: “His case is riddled with demonstrable lies. It is also a lie that he stood up and felt pressure on the knife, indicating that Damian walked into the knife. That doesn’t explain the other injuries Damian suffered during the fatal incident.

“These lies were designed to cover up the fact that he didn’t get the knife for self defence. It wasn’t an accident, it was an attack fuelled by cocaine, alcohol and anger.

“Vincent Bell could have walked away, his brother had a broken leg. He suffered three different stab wounds, three cuts on his hands and a witness was slashed across the hand - this was a sustained attack.”

The trial continues.