A man accused of killing a friend in a drunken row told a jury he lashed out with a knife in self-defence.

Robert Morris said Grant Flame attacked him and he was only trying to defend himself when he picked up a craft knife.

Mr Flame, 44, a father-of-three from Worthing, was found dying in a pool of blood in a hallway outside Morris's flat in Broadwater Road, Worthing, on January 24.

Morris, 41, a former landscape gardener, denies murder.

The jury at Lewes Crown Court watched as Morris re-enacted the attack using his own armchair, which was brought into court.

Earlier the court heard how the two men had spent the day drinking at Morris's flat with Marion Goldsmith, who was Mr Flame's partner and a former lover of Morris.

In the evening, Morris said Miss Goldsmith and Mr Flame started arguing about how they were going to get home. In order to stop the row, Morris suggested she slept the night on his sofa but Mr Flame would have to leave.

Morris, who is profoundly deaf and was speaking through an interpreter, said Mr Flame immediately launched an unprovoked attack on him. He said Mr Flame repeatedly punched him before trying to strangle him.

Morris said he panicked and picked up the knife.

He used a pen to demonstrate how he brandished the knife and said he never meant to cut Mr Flame's throat.

He said: "I was trying to pull him off to stop him throttling me. I was struggling to get free. I grabbed the knife. I thought the knife would make him back off.

"With all the drink, if I had given him the chance, he probably would have killed me."

The trial continues.