A man died after being knifed in the eye in Gloucester when drink-fuelled mocking led to murder, a court heard.

Armed with two kitchen knives a bare chested Anthony Poole, 51, repeatedly lunged at Martin Stokes, 30, and stabbed him once in the eye after he was ridiculed about never having any money.

As Mr Stokes attempted to evade the slashing Poole, he fell from the window of the ground floor flat into the basement stairwell below, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Poole then stabbed Mr Stokes' friend Ben Clark once in the chest before fleeing the property in Nettleton Road, taking the weapons with him.

Eyewitnesses described seeing a bare-chested man with his fists clenched and his arms stretched out to the side "like a gorilla" fleeing the scene on the evening of January 13 this year shouting "If I go down for it, I go down for it".

People who called the emergency services and went to the aid of Mr Stokes saw that he was heavily blood-stained and his eye was protruding from its socket.

By the time Mr Stokes arrived at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital he was already unconscious and unresponsive. He died eight days later on January 21.

Prosecutor Michael Fitton QC told the jury of four men and eight women that Poole and Mr Stokes had on the afternoon of the incident gone to the Nettleton Road flat where their friend Ben Clark lived with his girlfriend Zoe Cox.

They had been drinking into the evening and because they were hot, the men had taken off their tops.

"There was a conversation that took place in which Mr Clark and Mr Stokes were mocking Mr Poole and the subject of that mocking related in particular, as we understand it, to him wasting money and in turn Mr Poole took offence to what was being said," Mr Fitton said.

"The mood appeared to change from relatively friendly to hostile. Our case is that Mr Poole was standing in the kitchen area of the flat near to a block of kitchen knives.

"According to the evidence of Mr Clark, Mr Poole picked up two knives - one in each hand - and advanced towards Mr Stokes.

"According to Mr Clark, Mr Poole started flicking the knives at Mr Stokes and contact is made between the two.

"Mr Stokes fell and went out of the window. Mr Clark shouted at Mr Poole to get out and Mr Poole then turned his attention to Mr Clark stabbing Mr Clark in upper chest area."

Both Mr Clark and his girlfriend described how Poole advanced towards Mr Stokes making "slashing-type movements" with both hands and was "spinning and flicking" the knives and lunging at him.

"We rely on the accounts of these two witnesses and say the attacks were neither lawful, necessary nor justified," Mr Fitton said.

"Nothing done by either Mr Stokes or Mr Clark caused it or justified it."

Mr Fitton said Poole had admitted stabbing both men but was claiming he acted out of self-defence.

"He says what he did was done in lawful self-defence. We say he was acting unlawfully and it is for the prosecution to prove that to be the case," he said.

The day after the stabbings, Poole was spotted by an acquaintance and challenged over the incident - admitting he was responsible but denying he had stabbed Mr Stokes in the eye.

Later that day, Poole handed himself into police and when he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, he replied: "It was self-defence actually."

He later told detectives that Mr Stokes had a knife and was challenging him to stab him and when he felt threatened, he did. Poole also said that he knifed Mr Clark after he had lunged at him.

When charged, Poole replied: "I am innocent of these two charges, I acted in self-defence. I haven't murdered anybody, it was self-defence."

Poole, of Melbourne Street East, Gloucester denies charges of murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.