AN IRAQI asylum seeker accused of murdering a fellow countryman told a jury how he looked on the victim as his "brother."

Samsuddin Farhan Hamad, 20, denied stabbing Mokhler Mostafa to death in Infirmary Street, Blackburn, as he gave evidence on day three of the murder trial at Preston Crown Court.

Hamad said two white men sank a kitchen knife into Mr Mostafa five times just before midnight on January 19 this year.

Earlier this week, the jury was told that residents of Infirmary Street, none of whom saw any white men, heard shouting and arguing in a non-English voices around the time of the stabbing.

But Hamad, who gave evidence through a Kurdish-speaking interpreter, said: "We got on very good and we were good together. He was a friend, like a brother.

"We were laughing until he was attacked. We had no arguments."

He told the court that he was feeling "good" after drinking several cans of Stella Artois lager when Mr Mostafa, also an asylum seeker, decided he wanted to go home to Warrington.

Hamad said he told his friend there were no buses or coaches, but the two men went out towards Bolton Road regardless, before heading back.

He added: "He said he had to go back to get to work. I told him to stay the night and leave tomorrow. We went back to the house and then went out again later.

"I saw two white men come from Lockside. They were talking but I didn't understand them. One of them grabbed Mostafa by his collar and stabbed him.

"I shouted 'stop'. Then they ran off towards Lockside."

Hamad then returned to his house to fetch a mobile phone and dial 999. The call was played to the jury, during which Mr Mostafa is thought to be heard crying "Farro" -- Hamad's nickname.

In the conversation, Hamad said: "If you don't come he is going to die."

Hamad then said he pulled Mr Mostafa to the pavement and cradled him.

He added: "I was shouting for help. He said he was going to die and I said 'no, you are not going to die'."

Soon after police and paramedics arrived. Hamad was not allowed to go in the ambulance and was arrested.

He said: "I wanted to go in the ambulance because he could not speak English and I wanted him to give a statement saying two white guys had stabbed him."

Hamad denied the kitchen knife was his, saying he only had one knife in his Infirmary Street home which had been broken wrenching a petrol cap from a car.

Earlier the jury had heard Hamad's police interviews in which the prosecution called into question the precision of his statements about the white men.

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