A teenager accused of the murder of Paul Thrower said he did not know he had stabbed the handyman 10 times, a court has heard.

Kiro Halliburton then fled the Hayes area – after cutting off his distinctive plaited hair – to Leeds.

Mr Haliburton, 18, who was in the dock of the Old Bailey to give evidence today (Monday, November 10) was arrested next day in the Yorkshire city. Co-defendant Zakariya Subeir, also 18, headed to Dubai.

And in dramatic testimony, Mr Halliburton, who claimed he feared for his life when Mr Thrower kicked his way through a door to get to him and his friend, told jurors he acted instinctively.

“I wasn’t acting aggressively, I was acting to defend myself and my friend,” he said.

“At the time I couldn’t say 100 percent I stabbed this man, I wasn’t conscious of the knife going in.

“I wasn’t looking at where the knife was going. I did not know I stabbed him 10 times.”

Mr Thrower suffered a fatal stab wound to the heart and was also hit three times with an axe, the court heard.

Mr Halliburton described meeting Subeir in a nearby subway after fleeing from the scene in St Dunstan’s Close on the night of Thursday, February 20 this year.

He told the court: “I said to Zak: ‘I think I stabbed him’.

“We talked about should we go to the police but we decided not to.”

Mr Halliburton said he heard about Mr Thrower’s death the next day, and got his hair cut while staying at a friend’s house in Cranford.

Prosecutor Peter Finnegan QC said: ‘You cut off your distinctive plaits and you went to Leeds. Were you hoping you would get away with it?’

Halliburton replied: “I didn’t have a plan of what I was going to do. I didn’t want to get arrested.”

He admitted he did not tell police he acted in self defence, and told the court he made no comment in interview on the advice of his solicitor.

Jurors heard Halliburton has a previous conviction for possessing a knife during an incident on a bus when another youth was stabbed in the leg.

Mr Finnegan said: “That’s what you do when you are in a situation which blows up, you are aggressive.”

The prosecutor then suggested that Mr Halliburton could have chosen to avoid the confrontation with Mr Thrower by going across the back wall and jumping down to the ground.

The defendant said he thought that was ‘a bad idea’ and added: “I didn’t have a choice.”

Mr Halliburton, of Tollgate Drive, Hayes; Mr Subeir, of Rockingham Road, Uxbridge; and the two 17 year-olds from Hayes, deny murder.

The trial continues.