A MAN accused of murdering his brother when a drug and drink-fuelled argument spiralled out of control told police 'I didn't mean to do it' when he was arrested.

Vincent Bell is said to have stabbed Damian Banks, 34, three times with a kitchen knife at his home in Durham but the defendant maintains that he never intended it to happen.

During police interviews read out in Teesside Crown Court, the 36-year-old told detectives that he only armed himself with a kitchen knife for his own protection after his brother attacked him with a crutch after they argued about a cocaine deal.

The jury heard how police body-camera footage from the time of his arrest recorded the defendant saying 'I didn't mean to do it. He jumped onto me – I felt it go in, I didn't mean to do it'. I felt the knife go into him – I didn't stab him'.

The court heard Bell had fled to his mother's home before heading to his ex-boyfriend's house, where he was arrested in March this year.

Throughout the police interview, Bell tells officers that he didn't know how the knife ended up stuck in his brother's chest.

He said: "Damian attacked me, that's why I had the knife – for my own protection. There was a scuffle. He stepped back and he fell backwards. I just went...I looked at him and I saw blood coming out of his chest. I ran out of the door and went straight to my mum's."

When asked why he went into the kitchen to get a knife, the defendant said it was because his brother often carried a knife and it was for his own protection.

Asked how his brother ended up suffering a stab wound, Bell said: "I don't know how it happened. I can remember the feeling of it going into him. I could just tell that the knife had gone into something – I could just feel the pressure."

Earlier, 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".

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

The trial continues.