A teenager accused of murdering a semi-professional footballer has claimed he “never intended to hurt anyone”.

Jack Taylor, 19, of Oakley Close, Grays, and Dusan Samardzija, 23, of Cypress Path, Romford, are standing trial charged with the murder of 24-year-old Kevin Malthouse.

Father-of-one and Tillbury FC footballer Mr Malthouse, from Stanford-le-Hope, died following a street fight in Blackshots Lane, Grays, in the early hours of Saturday, July 1 last year.

Taylor and Samardzija are also charged with three counts of the grievous bodily harm of three others - Mason Aldwinckle, Wesley Gray and Ricky Gould. They all suffered stab wounds.

Taylor was in the witness box giving evidence at the trial in Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday.

He claimed that he had been carrying a bag of knives on the night due to being frightened of an attack, as a rival group of men from Tillbury had been sending threats for the past year.

He said: “I received around 18 individual messages which began a year before the incident happened.

“They were threatening to kill me, and even said they would rape my girlfriend and mother.”

The jury previously heard evidence from Mr Gould that his group had exited the Treacle Mine pub on the night to find one of their cars’ tyres had been slashed, and when journeying in another car further up the road a black Ford Fiesta pulled in front of them.

Taylor allegedly grabbed a bag from the boot and lunged at them with a knife.

Addressing the jury on Wednesday, Taylor said: “We left the Treacle Mine because I was uncomfortable as the same people who had been threatening me were there.

“Outside, we were planning to go to Las Iguanas, when a group of girls came out of the pub saying the men inside told us to f*** off.

“I got so angry that I grabbed a screwdriver and slashed the tyres, but I realised soon after that it was a stupid thing to do which would only make the situation ten times worse.”

Taylor told the jury when the group caught up with his friends later on he had picked up a bag of knives from the car boot for safety.

He said: “I was trying to get away, I was just really scared. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

The trial continues.