A 30-year-old Walton man on trial at the Old Bailey for murder wept as he told the jury how he discovered his stepfather dying in their family home last year.

Rachid Riahi is accused of stabbing to death his stepfather, Kevin Francis, 49, on October 6 in Hurtwood Road, Walton, with a knife he had used to make a cheese and ham sandwich.

He denies the charge.

Mr Riahi, a painter and decorator, told the court on Monday he was about to leave the house in the evening to meet a friend when he saw Mr Francis lying on the floor of the kitchen, propped up against a cupboard.

He said: "I was on the middle landing and I looked into the kitchen and I saw Kevin slumped against the cupboard.

"I shouted his name and there was no response.

"I shouted to my mum and there was no answer.

"I walked up to Kevin and it looked like his mouth was moving, trying to say something, but there was nothing coming out.

"It looked like he was falling in and out of consciousness.

"Then, I've looked at his face and I said 'Kevin? Kevin?'.

"And that's when I saw blood on his chest and I knew he was hurt.

"I pulled open his top and there was a cut that looked deep.

"I grabbed some clothing and put it into a ball and held it to Kevin's chest."

"My mum flew through the door a couple of seconds after and she froze.

"She looked quite shocked and screamed. I said: 'Mum, phone an ambulance, phone an ambulance'.

"And then she ran out of the front door."

Mr Riahi said some neighbours appeared in the kitchen and one of them said to him: "You stabbed him."

He told the court: "I told them I hadn't stabbed him."

Mr Riahi admitted to the court he had punched his stepfather "four or five" times during an argument earlier that evening.

Prosecutor Wayne Cleaver claimed there had been a further argument that evening and the defendant had killed Mr Francis.

Traces of Kevin Francis’s blood were found on a pair of trainers Mr Riahi had been wearing that day, and on the light switch in his bedroom, the court was told by a forensic scientist last week.

The court heard Mr Riahi was the only other person in the house before Mr Francis's death.

Mr Cleaver said: "There was some sort of disagreement between you in the kitchen and you have used the knife and you have taken the knife and simply plunged it into his chest."

Mr Riahi denied this.

The trial continues.