A YOUNG man was bludgeoned and stabbed to death by two men who had taken cocaine, a court heard.

Serxhio Marku had sold the class A drugs to Italian chefs Giuseppe Petriccione, 46, and Francesco D’Agostino, 45, in Brighton.

Later, the 21-year-old went to sell the duo more, but was heard begging for his life.

Neighbours in a house in Stafford Road in the Prestonville area heard bangs and crashes and one man pleading: “What did I do?”

Petriccione and D’Agostino blame each other for inflicting the horrific injuries that Mr Marku, from Albania, suffered.

The Argus:

At Brighton Crown Court Alan Kent QC, prosecuting, opened the case against the two defendants.

Mr Kent told jurors how a 999 call from neighbours had sparked an urgent police response at 2am.

When police arrived, they were eventually let in to a communal area in the home, and could see blood on the door outside.

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D’Agostino is accused of stalling the police at the front door and refusing to open it, telling officers everything was fine, that there had only been an argument and it was all over.

But after several minutes, both he and Petriccione fled through the back door, both covered in blood.

The Argus:

On the door handle there was a hand print and signs that Mr Marku had clung to the handle in a desperate bid to escape, only to be dragged back inside, Mr Kent said.

Police battered down the door and found Mr Marku face down in a pool of his own blood in the kitchen.

He had been stabbed multiple times and struck with “severe” blunt force several times. “Clumps” of his blood and hair were found on a scaffolding pole and blood was “spattered” throughout the flat, Mr Kent said.

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Inside, a knife was found in the sink, and it is believed a gym weight and scaffolding pole were also used as weapons.

He said both men had acted together during the violence, and said forensic tests showed that both must have been close to the wet blood of Mr Marku.

The Argus:

Petriccione was arrested wearing a bloodied red Spiderman T-shirt in a garden behind Exeter Street, while D’Agostino was bare chested but had blood all over his jeans.

In police interviews both men blamed each other, Mr Kent said.

D’Agostino had allegedly sent a text in Italian two hours before the alleged attack which read: “Tonight I will commit a murder.”

Petriccione, of Arienzo near Naples in Italy, and D’Agostino, formerly of Stafford Road, Brighton, deny murder. The trial continues.

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