Two defendants accused of murder have denied setting out to kill a family man to avenge a robbery.

Nicholas Bridge and Daniel Onofeghare went to 36-year-old Anthony Williams’s home in September last year.

There they are alleged to have carried out a “merciless” stabbing, with Bridge attacking Mr Williams with a knife while Onofeghare threatened others not to intervene.

Philip Bennetts QC, prosecuting, previously told Hove Crown Court that Bridge, 18, and Onofeghare, 19, were angry with Mr Williams about a robbery committed against them.

But they deny the accusation and today Judge Jeremy Gold QC summed up evidence for the jury to consider in the case.

Bridge said that he had been lured to the address, a flat in Park Way, Horsham, with Onofeghare on the premise of finding out more information about the robbery.

Then when they got inside, he claimed that Mr Williams lunged at him with a knife and a baseball bat and that during an ensuing struggle he overpowered Mr Williams and inflicted the wounds in self-defence.

Bridge told the court he was dealing class A drugs in Horsham to pay off debts, but didn’t realise that Mr Williams was a rival dealer.

He said: “I was naive, I now believe I was set up. I didn’t think I had competition in Horsham, I was not experienced at all.”

In his evidence he said he was not a violent person or someone who routinely carried a weapon.

He said he saw himself as a young entrepreneur, with interests in financial markets, trade and commodities. He was formerly completing a business administration apprenticeship.

Bridge, of Loughborough Park in Brixton, said that Mr Williams was intoxicated on drugs at the time of the incident and a post-mortem examination report by Dr Robert Chapman confirmed he had high levels of cocaine in his system.

Michael Magarian QC, defending, said that cocaine was a drug which can make people prone to outbursts of aggression and violence.

Bridge said he had no intention to hurt anyone and was in shock when he was interviewed.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m not coming here to die’, I just wanted to get out,” he said.

Previously, forensics experts had described how blood was splattered around the one-bedroom flat. As the fight spilled over into the bedroom, blood was found "cascading" down the bedroom walls.

Mr Williams suffered several deep knife wounds, which experts believe were inflicted with "severe" force. One wound to his neck penetrated 17cm into his body to his collar bone, while the fatal wound in his back punctured a lung and liver in an 11cm wound.

When asked about the fatal wound inflicted with severe force, Bridge said: “I cannot tell you how I did that. At no stage did I hear him scream.”

The judge will sum up the evidence for and against Daniel Onofeghare, of no fixed address tomorrow.

The jury members will then be asked to consider their verdict.