A man told a jury he was unaware he had fatally stabbed a father-of-two in a pub fight.

Andrew Hansen said he brandished the knife in order to scare people trying to attack him so he could flee from The Crown in the Carfax, Horsham.

He told a jury at Hove Crown Court: "I didn't think I had done anything wrong. I didn't think I had stabbed anyone."

Hansen, 37, denies murdering Peter Uttley in July last year.

Hansen, of Penn Gardens, Ashington, told the court he was in fear for his life and acted in self-defence when he pulled out a 14-inch kitchen knife.

He said: "It was a complete mental fight. It was every man for himself."

Hansen said Mr Uttley, 33, a landscape gardener, was killed by accident.

He said Mr Uttley was among a group of people trying to push him out of the pub.

During cross-examination he denied deliberately thrusting the knife into Mr Uttley.

He said: "I didn't intend to cause any serious injury."

The jury heard Mr Uttley suffered a single stab wound to his chest and stopped breathing shortly after being placed on a table in the pub by other customers.

Hansen said the violence erupted after an argument over a cocaine deal involving his friend Matthew Brown. The two men went to The Crown to find the man who sold Mr Brown a substance which was not cocaine.

He said as he tried to leave the pub he was attacked. He said: "I was trying to make my escape. I was punched and kicked. I pulled that knife in self-defence. I thought if I showed them the knife they would stop attacking me."

The trial continues.