A MAN accused of murder stabbed an Asian delivery driver in the neck after threatening to "do that Paki", a court has been told.

James Brabbs is said to have attacked Mohammed Saleem Khan during the course of a robbery after hatching a plan to steal cash and cannabis from him.

The 27-year-old defendant accepts he used a knife to rob Mr Khan, but stabbed him by accident - an explanation described as "desperate and fanciful" by the prosecution in his trial at Teesside Crown Court, who say it was a deliberate blow.

Married Mr Khan, 37, who lived in Luton, was delivering bathroom shower products in Easingwold, between Thirsk and York, and met the defendant and a group of women who had been drinking in the town on a Saturday night.

He was discovered still breathing in the drivers' seat of his van by a police officer at about 2.30am on September 23 last year, having suffered a single stab wound to his neck. A wallet had been taken containing £25 in notes and some coins.

The knife used in the attack, which was later recovered and had fibres from the victim's top on it, severed a major artery to the head and Mr Khan died shortly afterwards in hospital.

It is thought he had driven his van a short distance in an attempt to get away from his attacker before crashing into bollards.

Prosecuting, Adrian Waterman said Mr Brabbs - known as 'Brabbsy' - told a friend that after having a drink with Mr Khan and discovering he had cannabis in his van he and another man planned to steal it from him, but the robbery had gone wrong and he had stabbed him in the neck.

Mr Brabbs, of no fixed address, received a lift off Mr Khan to the New Inn pub in Long Street, Easingwold. He was said to have have told another witness Tracy Didlick, who also received a lift, that he "might do that Paki".

When she asked why, he allegedly replied: "Cos I can."

Ms Didlick, who gave evidence, said Mr Khan had been sat in his car listening to loud music and had asked where he could get a drink. She described him as "jolly, up for a laugh and quite chilled."

At about 1.11am Mr Khan's white van was captured on CCTV cameras in the vicinity of Market Place and also described by a witness as being driven too fast.

Meanwhile, a barmaid, Kelly Worrall, who worked at the nearby Horseshoe pub in Long Street, said in a written statement she had heard a male voice "screaming in obvious pain" after she went to shut the pub door at 2am and also saw the van on the side of the road at an angle with its hazard lights on.

As the van was driven away she saw the defendant on the other side of the road, walking towards a passageway between two houses.

Mr Waterman said the defendant, who admits manslaughter, but denies murder, went to a friend's house to shower to get the blood off after attacking Mr Khan and also changed his clothes, burning the ones he had been wearing.

When he was arrested he made no comment.

Mr Waterman said that although the word 'Paki' was used by Mr Brabbs it was not the crown's case that he had been stabbed because he was a Pakistani and the defendant viewed him in a racist way.

Mr Khan's family were present in court and an interpreter was sat with them relaying the proceedings.

The trial continues