A 17-year-old asylum seeker accused of stabbing a teenager with a kitchen knife told police he carried out the attack after he was hit over the head with a brick.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that in a police interview the 17-year-old said he had been with friends at a house in Cemetery Road, Ipswich, when the alleged victim and another youth had turned up uninvited.

He claimed they had beaten him up in the hallway causing bumps and grazes to his face, head, arms and legs and he had picked up a salad knife to scare them off.

He said one of the youths had run off and he chased after him.

He claimed he was then hit on the head with a brick by the other youth and had stabbed him because he was angry at being hit with the brick.

He said that afterwards he had started crying and had run off because he was scared.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, has denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, possessing a knife and assault by beating.

The offences are alleged to have been committed in April this year.

The court has heard the alleged victim of the stabbing and one of his friends had gone to meet the defendant to discuss ill-feeling between them.

However, when they arrived they saw he was holding a knife and he had then allegedly grabbed hold of one of the youths and tore his collar with the knife.

The youth pushed the 17-year-old out of the way and ran off with his friend.

The 17-year-old allegedly chased after them and the one with the torn shirt managed to escape but his friend couldn’t get away and was stabbed in the chest.

“The blade of the knife was left in his body,” said Mr Sorel-Cameron.

The 17-year old ran off with the handle and threw it on the ground and the injured youth was taken to hospital and had three stitches in a wound in the area of his rib cage.

The court heard that the defendant and the alleged victims met while they were living in a hostel in Ipswich and had previously been friends.

The trial continues.