THE man accused of the murder of Alex Peguero Sosa said he thought Alex had a knife on that fateful night, the jury at Plymouth Crown Court heard on Monday.

Lee Dent, 42, who moved to Kingsbridge from Stockport, took the stand to give evidence in his own defence, saying Alex told him 'I'm going to stab you up' and that he thought he saw a 'glint' in Alex's hand.

Dent denies murdering Alex at a taxi rank near Kingsbridge Quay in the early hours of Sunday, July 6.

With a break in his voice and a trembling bottom lip – but without tears – Dent said he was 'scared' and thought he was going to be stabbed by the 17-year-old, when he delivered the fatal blow to Alex's neck.

Dent blamed the Kingsbridge Sixth Former and promising footballer for his own death, saying: 'Alex put me in this position; I had to defend myself.

'I thought I was going to be stabbed'.

He said: 'I moved out of the way but he kept getting in my face, trying to be violent towards me, wanting to fight me'.

Dent maintains that he didn't realise he had a broken bottle in his hand when he threw the blow that killed the Aveton Gifford teenager, and that he didn't realise how seriously Alex was hurt until the next morning, despite his clothes being soaked in blood.

When asked by his barrister, Mr Meeke QC, about the racist language Henry Felton told the court he had used that night, he said they were 'not words I'd use in a normal situation – but this was far from a normal situation'.

He said he was 'ashamed and disgusted if I did'.

Mr Meeke QC also asked him about his business; selling and exporting part-worn truck tyres to Africa.

Mr Meeke asked him if he had dealings with 'black men' as part of his business.

Dent said yes and added that he'd had 'no difficulties' and that he had black and Asian friends.

Dent said he 'had never been as drunk' as he was on the night the violent confrontation took place and couldn't remember much about the evening apart from someone 'turning on me' and that they 'kept coming at me'.

Detective Constable Darren Webb read out the transcript from Dent's nine-hour police interview in court.

In this, Dent denied knowing Henry Felton, denied having taken any illegal drugs and – allegedly on the advice of his solicitor at the time – didn't mention that he thought Alex had a knife.

In his interview he also said he didn't remember speaking to his girlfriend after the incident nor did he remember anything that happened between then and the next morning when he woke up and was arrested by PC Dave Tungate in Fore Street, Kingsbridge.

In court, Dent denied inflicting cuts on his own left arm, despite evidence from Dr Russell Delaney who said he 'couldn't envisage a scenario' where the uniform, parallel and superficial cuts could occur, apart from being self-inflicted.

But Dent told Plymouth Crown Court he made a mistake in thinking that Alex Peguero Sosa had a knife.

During cross-examination by Simon Laws QC, for the prosecution, Dent told the jury he had been mistaken when he thought that the promising 17-year-old footballer had a knife when he threw the fatal blow.

But he still insisted Alex had told him he would 'stab him up'.

Dent stated that Alex had 'pushed me and pushed me' and that in that split-second, he glanced down and thought he saw a knife so he 'lashed out' at the Aveton Gifford teenager.

Mr Laws called it a 'pretty big mistake' . He suggested the teenager had never said those words and accused Dent of exaggerating his drunkenness on that night and that he was choosing to remember only those things that helped his case.

Mr Laws also accused the defendant of 'manufacturing' evidence by cutting his own forearm to support his version of events.

Mr Laws said: 'It was not any kind of accident was it? It was quite deliberate.

'You stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle, Mr Dent.'

Dent replied: 'That was not my intention, no.'

Prosecution and defence speeches were being heard on Wednesday morning. Crown Court Judge Mr Justice Nigel Teare was summing up the case during the afternoon after which the jury were due to retire to conside their verdict.