A Nepalese man has appeared at the Old Bailey accused of killing an Esher waiter found in the Thames after a boat party.

Arjun Gurung, 22, was identified by witnesses as one of three men who threw 23-year-old Bishal Gurung, no relative of his, into the river near Waterloo Bridge two years ago.

Arjun Gurung denies manslaughter.

Last year, two men were found guilty of the manslaughter of Bishal Gurung, who worked in the Sherpa Kitchen in Esher High Street, but the jury at this trial has been told Arjun Gurung fled to Nepal while police were investigating the death and was not traced until March this year.

Prosecutor Richard Laidlaw told the court the defendant and the waiter were at a party to celebrate Nepalese New Year on board a boat moored near the Embankment on April 12, 2008.

However, during a fight that started on board the boat in the early hours of the following morning, Bishal Gurung was wrongly accused of throwing a beer bottle at Kemik Thakali’s head, one of the two men convicted for manslaughter last year, it was claimed.

Bishal Gurung was then chased by about 20 men along the riverside and beaten up, the jury was told.

After the beating, he was thrown over the wall into the river and, although he was still alive, he drowned in the water.

Mr Laidlaw told the court Bishal Gurung had little chance of survival because of the high tide that night.

Although Arjun Gurung admits he was one of the group who gave chase, he denies he was one of the three men who threw Bishal Gurung into the Thames.

On Thursday, September 16, the court heard the evidence of Riten Gurung, not related to either the defendant or the deceased, an eyewitness to the beating.

Riten Gurung told the court he attended the party with Thakali and Rocky Gurung, the other man found guilty of the manslaughter last year.

He said about eight to 10 men had beaten Bishal Gurung. He was on the floor curled up and protecting his face with his hands, he said.

He said: “One of them said, ‘Let’s throw him in the river’. Then I saw Rocky [Gurung] and a guy in a grey suit called Arjun and a third guy throw him in the river.”

Mr Laidlaw asked Riten Gurung how the men had thrown Bishal Gurung into the water.

He said: “He was put on the wall and then pushed.”

But, Lee Karu, representing Arjun Gurung, told the court Riten Gurung had identified the wrong man.

He suggested another man there during the beating of Bishal Gurung, who was also wearing a grey suit, was responsible for the death, as this man was a relative of Thakali and wanted revenge for the earlier incident where Thakali had been injured with a bottle.

Riten Gurung told Mr Karu that Thakali’s relative could not have been one of the three men to push Bishal Gurung into the water as he been standing next to him the whole time.

Mr Karu said: “I suggest to you that is a lie.”

Thakali, from Legion Court, Morden, and Rocky Gurung, from Haig Place, Morden, were found guilty of manslaughter last year.

Another man, Missan Gurung, from Felixstowe Road, Abbey Wood, south-east London, was involved in the beating of Bishal Gurung and found guilty of violent disorder, also last year.

Arjun Gurung denies manslaughter.

The trial continues.