SIDCUP: Rob Knox friends 'share responsibility' for fatal fight

Karl Bishop is accused of murdering Mr Knox and wounding five others outside the Metro Bar, Station Road, Sidcup, on May 24.

In his closing statement, defence counsel Ian Bourne accused prosecutor Brian Altman of trying to "throw mud" at Bishop in the hope that "enough would stick."

He told the court there was not enough evidence to convict Bishop of any of the charges.

Mr Bourne said that his client was acting in self-defence and had been “in danger from a multi-handed attack” on May 24.

He said: “A number of those people had armed themselves with bottles and chairs – some of them displaying those items, others hiding them down by their side so they couldn't be seen.”

The defence said Bishop was attacked before he stabbed anyone.

Mr Bourne said: “That's the most important part of his case. That what happened, happened because he was attacked.”

He then went through the accounts which prosecution witnesses had given of a fight with Bishop outside the bar the previous week.

Mr Bourne said some of these accounts had been “embellished” and others had been “contradictory” regarding the numbers of people involved and the order of events.

And he said that differing accounts of a fight with Bishop just before the final attack could suggest that some witnesses “had something to hide”.

The defence claims that fight happened after Mr Knox summoned six friends to the bar to beat Bishop up again.

Mr Bourne said: “We submit many, many of those share responsibility for what happened later that night.”

Afterwards, Bishop returned home and picked up two knives from his kitchen.

Mr Bourne said: “In those few moments alone in his home, having climbed in through a kitchen window, he made that fatal decision to take not one but two knives and to set out to the Metro Bar for a further confrontation.”

Bishop, of Beaver Lodge, Carlton Road, Sidcup, denies murder and five counts of wounding with intent.

The trial continues.