A 21-YEAR-OLD man "stabbed anyone and everyone who came near him" during a fight which left Rob Knox fatally wounded, a court heard.

Following a series of incidents earlier in the evening on May 24 last year, Mr Knox had been told his brother had been threatened with a knife and ran outside the Metro Bar, Sidcup, with his friends.

Outside, Karl Bishop, of Beaver Lodge, Carlton Road, Sidcup, was armed with a knife in each hand, the Old Bailey heard today (Feb 9).

Prosecutor Brian Altman said Bishop was "waving the knives around and his face was screwed up in rage."

He was challenging a crowd of people to fight him and was shouting: "Who's going to make my day?"

The court heard Mr Knox's friend Andrew Dormer saw Bishop put the knives back in his pockets and decided to take his chance and confront him.

Mr Dormer claims he was then hit in the face with a bottle by Bishop and did not realise he had been stabbed until later.

The crowd then surged forward and someone tried to hit Bishop with a chair, Mr Altman said.

In the melee that followed bottles and glasses were thrown at Bishop as the fighting went on.

One witness said he saw 18-year-old Mr Knox, of Maidstone Road, Sidcup, attempt to rugby tackle Bishop before he was stabbed, receiving a fatal wound to the chest.

Five others received stab wounds during the fighting.

Bishop had accused Mr Knox and his friends the previous week of using his mobile phone when he fought with Dean Saunders, and the prosecution said this was a revenge attack.

When police arrived they found an angry crowd and Bishop asked the officers to keep the people away from him.

After he was arrested Bishop told police he was the one who had been attacked.

Mr Altman said while Bishop was at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, a small crowd appeared and he shouted: "I don't care how long I go down for, when I get out I'm going to kill you."

It is then claimed he told policemen to take him straight back to Belmarsh, a prison he had only been released from in March 2007.

Mr Altman said: "Karl Bishop is a violent and an aggressive young man who thinks nothing of carrying knives and using them offensively if in his opinion the need arises."

He added: "He threatened and he goaded people with the knives and when attempts were made to stop him, he began doing what he had clearly set out to do. He stabbed anyone and everyone who came near him."

Bishop denies murder and five counts of wounding with intent to cause GBH.

The trial continues.