Alleged Bristol killer Bradley Payne said he went to confront a man but did not intend to fatally stab him.

Payne told Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday he went to speak to John Derrick after forcibly removing him from his home.

He said he took a large kitchen knife because he didn't know if Mr Derrick was armed and had been told that Derrick had threatened to kill him.

He said he unintentionally stabbed him in the body and left eye when Mr Derrick came at him, throwing punches.

Payne, 32, of Witch Hazel Road, Hartcliffe, denies murder in July last year.

He also denies making a threat to kill and unlawfully wounding Aaron Bennington the month before.

Payne adamantly denied either threatening or attacking Mr Bennington.

He told the jury he had received text messages from his partner Samantha telling him to hurry up because Mr Derrick was at their home in Innox Gardens, Bishopsworth.

He said: "When I returned, Sam came running out of the house and she looked scared, frightened and upset.

"She told me that John was in the living room and he had walked into the address uninvited.

"He had been asked to leave by Sam several times and refused."

The court heard Payne asked Mr Derrick to leave, he didn't consent and Payne and his father removed him from the premises.

He said, later, police arrived at the scene but he explained what happened and said he didn't want Mr Derrick to be arrested but just told them they didn't want him to come back.

The court heard later that Payne's stepson George came home and said Mr Derrick had told him the next time he saw Payne he would "kill him or do him".

Payne explained how, grabbing a kitchen knife, he took a BMX bike and cycled out to nearby Gatehouse Avenue in order to sort things out with Mr Derrick.

Payne told the court that, as he did so, Mr Derrick threw off his jacket, said "Come on, come on," and called him abusive names.

He said that he had turned to cycle off but Mr Derrick followed and he laid his bike on the floor, turned towards him and the pair walked towards each other.

He said: "He came at me, trying to throw punches.

"I tried to protect myself and I tried to knock his punches offline.

"I was not aware the knife penetrated his body. I thought it caught him somewhere down the side of the face."

Payne said that, after the confrontation, he panicked, cycled back to Innox Gardens and put the knife back in the kitchen before getting a lift away from the scene with neighbour Josie Bateman.

He maintained that he had been provoked into going out and speaking with Mr Derrick.

He said: "I didn't want him coming back and upsetting Sam any more than she was.

"I went out and confronted John. I didn't intend to kill John Derrick or cause him really serious harm."

In cross-examination, Payne denied he was a jealous man and said it was nonsense that there was anything going on between Sam and Mr Derrick.

He said his temper hadn't snapped and he was simply trying to protect himself, though he did swing his extended arm holding the blade a couple of times.

Payne said it was his partner who had seen the knife in the kitchen and mentioned something about getting rid of it, and he agreed.

He said he was sorry that Mr Derrick was dead and couldn't explain why he was recorded in a telephone conversation with his partner from prison, saying that Derrick deserved it and he didn't care about the death because Derrick was a "stupid, ugly bastard".

Earlier, Home Office pathologist Dr Deborah Cook told the court Mr Derrick suffered a 6in-deep cut to his head, and the cause of death was a stab wound through his left eye, which caused injury to his brain.

She said at the time of the incident it was back-calculated that the level of alcohol in his body would have been just over three times the legal limit for driving.

Payne told the jury he had only had one can of lager before the incident and, earlier in the day, 5mg of diazepam for anxiety.

The case continues at Bristol Crown Court.