A man accused of murder has admitted hitting him twice with a baseball bat but can’t remember exactly what happened as he had taken so many drugs.

Craig Dent had taken heroin and more than 20 prescription drugs before getting mixed up in the mob-handed violence which ended with Lee Clarkson being stabbed to death.

The 42-year-old told Teesside Crown Court that his bad decision making that day would stay with him for the rest of his life but had poor recollection of the fatal incident.

Mr Clarkson was dragged from his house and beaten before suffering three stab wounds to the abdomen and being left to bleed to death in the street.

Lee ClarksonPolice at the scene on the evening of the alleged murder of Lee Clarkson on West Lane, Bishop Auckland (Image: TERRY BLACKBURN)

The 42-year-old was allegedly attacked in a case of mistaken identity as the group were looking for his housemate, who they believed had burgled the home of co-accused Michael Richardson.

John Elvidge KC, representing the defendant, asked Dent if he remembers using a bat. He replied: “I remember hitting somebody on the legs with it. I have no idea who it was.”

The barrister asked: “Do you accept that you had no good reason to hit anybody with a bat? Do you accept that you were acting unlawfully?” Dent replied: “Yes.”

The witness told the jury that he had no idea that anybody was carrying a knife when they arrived at the house on West Lane, Bishop Auckland on November 29 last year.

The drug addict said in the aftermath of violence, he heard someone say his teenage co-accused ‘had stabbed somebody – he is f***ing nuts’.

Lee ClarksonLee Clarkson (Image: DURHAM CONSTABULARY)

Under cross examination from Christopher Tehrani KC, representing Richardson, Dent said deciding to get into his client’s car was the worst decision of his life.

He said: “A lad died and I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

And under cross examination from prosecuting barrister, Richard Wright KC, Dent denied that he had been influenced by any of his co-accused for his selective memory of events.

He said: “It’s not selective amnesia. It is taking a lot of drugs amnesia.”

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Jurors had heard how their intended target managed to jump out of a window and flee the scene in Bishop Auckland but Mr Clarkson was not so lucky.

Michael Richardson, 52, of Boddy Street, Bishop Auckland; Karl Jones, 45, of General Bucher Court, Bishop Auckland; Helen Jones, 43, of General Bucher Court, Bishop Auckland; Craig Dent, 42, of Gray Street, Eldon Lane; and the teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons, are all on trial for murder.

Two members of the group, Dent and the 17-year-old have admitted manslaughter but continue to deny murder of Mr Clarkson outside his home.

The murder trial continues.