TWO friends saw the man accused of Rob Knox's murder smiling as police led him away, a court has heard.

Michael Marks and Michael O'Rourke had been returning to the Metro Bar in Station Road, Sidcup, on May 24 last year when they saw a crowd outside.

Mr Marks said the entrance doors were closed and he could see Karl Bishop, the man accused of Mr Knox's murder, standing outside with two knives in his hands and a semi-circle of people around him.

He said: "He was challenging the other people standing around, saying 'come on'."

Mr Marks then saw Bishop put the knives in his pockets before gesturing at the crowd with a beckoning motion.

Mr O'Rourke, aged 18, described how the knives were sticking out of Bishop's pockets, with the blades clearly showing.

He said: "It was obvious that Karl had turned up for a confrontation or a fight of some kind. Everyone was saying if you're going to fight put the knives down."

Mr O'Rourke said Bishop seemed "fired up" and was denying he had knives on him.

Mr Marks said one boy came at Bishop and punched him, forcing him to cover his head and protect himself.

And Mr Marks said someone else then hit the defendant with a bottle.

He said people were shouting: "Get the knives. Get the knives."

Mr Marks said Bishop pulled one knife out again and stabbed someone who immediately dropped to the floor.

Bishop was "lashing out" as people ran towards him, the court was told.

And Mr Marks then remembers seeing 18-year-old Mr Knox holding Bishop in a headlock before he was stabbed.

He said Mr Knox then stumbled away, clutching his stomach.

Mr O'Rourke said: "He was just holding his chest and when he took his hands away his hands were covered in blood.

"You could see that his hands were soaking wet and you could see that blood was soaking through his shirt."

Both witnesses comforted the Harry Potter star as he lay outside the Somerfield store on the road.

People in the crowd then began throwing chairs and bottles at Bishop, Mr Marks said, before the defendant was eventually wrestled into a flowerbed and disarmed before the police arrived.

As the police put Bishop in the van, Mr Marks said he saw him winking and smiling at the people watching.

Mr O'Rourke told the court: "He just seemed smug."

He added: "He seemed more than happy that he'd done it."

Earlier that night, Mr Marks said he had seen three people beating upBishop outside the bar and heard afterwards the defendant had a knife on him at the time.

But Mr O'Rourke told the court that fight was between Mr Knox and Bishop, lasting a few seconds before their friends pulled them away.

Prior to the fight Mr O'Rourke said Mr Knox and his friends were arguing with Bishop in the bar's foyer.

Bishop, aged 21, of Beaver Lodge, Carlton Road, Sidcup, denies murder and wounding five people with the intent of causing grevious bodily harm.

The trial continues.