A MAN standing trial for murder told his girlfriend he stabbed the alleged victim 'in the heart' during a telephone call from his prison cell.

Jonathan Porritt admitted what he had done to John Lewis during the call in June this year, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The recording of three calls made to Jodie Parker were played to jurors who listened to the defendant get agitated at times before saying 'I just f***ing stabbed him, that's the only thing that I could do. I didn't mean to kill the ****'.

When his girlfriend asked him 'where di you stab him?' he replied 'in the heart'.

In one of the conversations, Miss Parker tells her lover that two men had turned up at her house to beat her up but they attacked her friend instead.

Mr Porritt said 'just get a knife, Jodie man, f***ing stick to them – don't be scared'.

The defendant also spoke about a series of letters he had written to Miss Parker which she said she had subsequently burnt.

The 28-year-old, of Crescent Road, Middlesbrough, is accused of plunging a knife into the chest of Mr Lewis following a confrontation about an assault and robbery on the nephew of the alleged victim's best friend, Stephen Smith, in May this year.

Members of the Smith family blamed Mr Porritt for carrying out the robbery on Andrew Smith and were determined to retrieve his stolen bike, mobile phone and £60 in cash.

During the prosecution's case, the jurors heard how Mr Porritt's had been goaded by his girlfriend, Jodie Parker, to not let them 'bully' him.

Nick Dry, prosecuting, said a heated confrontation started between the defendant and Mr Lewis which erupted into violence and ultimately Mr Lewis' death.

He had told jurors that the defendant had pulled a kitchen knife from the waistband of his trousers and stabbed Mr Lewis through the heart.

CCTV footage shown to the jury caught the defendant chasing the best friends from his home whilst brandishing a knife.

Earlier in the trial Stephen Smith, the best friend of John Lewis, broke down in tears as he told police officers: “It should never have happened; it should have been me.”

The jury heard that Mr Porritt maintains that he acted in self-defence after being attacked by the two men in his own home with Mr Lewis using a metal knuckleduster during the assault.

The defendant denies murder and possession of a knife.

The trial continues.