A KEY witness in the trial of Omar Mohammed, the man accused of murdering Liam Gall in Redditch town centre last year, broke down in tears as he gave an eye-witness account of his friend's death.

Sean Collier, 17, said: "Omar reached for a knife, grabbed his left arm and tried to push him away.

"As he drew the knife into Liam, Liam nutted him and I heard the sigh of the knife going into him.

"I turned round and saw Liam slowing down behind us."

Collier told Worcester Crown Court: "I seen his intestines hanging out.

"Liam lost the feelings in his legs and fell, banging his head on the kerb and losing consciousness."

Collier admitted lying in his initial statement to police.

"We left out that Omar had stabbed Liam 'cause I was confused and thought something bad would happen to him when he came out of hospital.

"I didn't want to be known as a grass," he told the jury.

Collier denied suggestions from William Davis, defending, that Gall started the violence but later admitted Gall knew how to "look after himself" in a fight.

Mr Davis suggested it was Gall who drew the knife and ended up being stabbed in the resulting scuffle.

Mr Davis also alleged Gall's younger brother, Ricky, whom the court heard had arrived shortly after the stabbing with three friends, disposed of the murder weapon, which has never been found.

Earlier, Leon Richards, another of Gall's friends, also gave an eye-witness account of the stabbing.

He told the court it had been the "worst moment of my life" when he found out Gall had died.

Amid sobbing from the public gallery, Richards, 18, said: "I saw Liam hold his chest and could see Omar running off in the corner of my eye.

"When Liam reached us, he collapsed. He was on his back.

"I got on my knees and was trying to talk to him.

"He lifted his shirt up and I could see where he had been stabbed and put my hand there.

"It was obvious to me Liam was getting worse."

When the trial opened on Tuesday, Stephen Coward QC, prosecuting, told the court Mohammed, 19, of Lodge Road, Redditch, was seen using a knife on Gall in a scuffle in an alleyway off Market Place on Wednesday, September 20.

Mohammed fled the scene and told his stepbrother he had been attacked but made no mention of the knife, the court heard.

He was later singled out at Redditch Police Station by one of Gall's companions and only then claimed Gall had pulled the knife on him.

"He had the knife. I had to grab it. It was him or me. What was I supposed to do?" Mohammed told police.

Gall was stabbed twice in the attack at about 7pm.

He suffered a fatal abdominal wound and was also stabbed through the left arm with such force the blade came out the other side.

He died in hospital that night.

The killing was the result of an argument over stolen goods, the court heard.

The trial continues.