A CRACK cocaine addict accused of killing a man when he stabbed him through the heart says he acted in self defence.

Jonathan Porritt said he was terrified after two men turned up on his doorstep just hours after he claims he had beaten him up after he had attacked and robbed one of their relatives.

The 28-year-old told Teesside Crown Court that he only picked the knife up after being punched several times by John Lewis and he stabbed in the chest as he was trying to get him, and his best friend Stephen Smith, out of his home.

Giving evidence in his trial, the defendant accepted that he had robbed Mr Smith's nephew two days before the fatal stabbing in May this year.

Jurors heard that the pair, along with several other family members, had gone looking for Mr Porritt to retrieve a stolen bike, £60 in cash and a mobile phone.

Violence erupted when the friends turned up at the defendant's house on Crescent Road, Middlesbrough.

Christopher Tehrani QC, who is representing Mr Porritt, said the father-of-four led a 'chaotic lifestyle' and committed crime to fund his drug addiction.

When asked what happened in the build up to the fatal incident, Mr Porritt said they were in his face shouting with Mr Lewis saying: “You’re f***ed. You’re f***ed. You don’t know who you’re f***ing with.”

When asked how that made he feel, he replied 'petrified'.

The court heard that the pair left, only to return a couple of hours later to collect some money from the defendant.

This time, Mr Porritt said he hid upstairs and let his girlfriend Jodie Parker answer the door but Mr Lewis found him when he searched the property looking for him.

The defendant told jurors that Mr Lewis had hit a couple of times to the head as they came down the stairs.

It was at this point he said that he picked up the knife after seeing Mr Lewis put his hand in his waistband and he feared that he could have been searching for a weapon.

Mr Tehrani asked the accused what happened next, he replied: "I have raised the knife and charged (towards him) and shouted get back. I walked towards him, I was trying to get him out of the house."

The QC asked Mr Porritt why he had picked up the knife and why he had stabbed Mr Lewis, he replied: "Self defence."

The trial continues.