A MAN said his younger brother begged his forgiveness during a fraught telephone call only minutes after their father was stabbed.

Shaun Leckenby, who denies murdering Ronald Leckenby in a knife attack, spoke to his brother, Paul, in the early hours of January 14 as their father lay dead or dying.

At Newcastle Crown Court, it was said that Shaun Leckenby plunged a knife into their father 14 times at the home the pair shared in Park Street South, Sunderland.

The court was told that after the killing, he spoke to his mother and sister on the telephone before he asked to speak to Paul.

Giving evidence, Paul Leckenby said: "He was saying he loved me and saying 'do you forgive me?'."

"He just said he was sorry and would I forgive him.

"I said 'okay I forgive you' and he asked me if I loved him. I said I do."

The court has already heard evidence that Shaun and Paul Leckenby, together with their sisters and mother, were in the house where Ronald Leckenby plunged a knife into his brother, Chris, and killed him in April 2000.

Ronald Leckenby was jailed for four-and-a-half years for manslaughter and was released from jail in 2003.

The court heard how Shaun Leckenby and his father were close after his release, despite the rift the incident caused in the family.

It was said that in calls made to his mother and sister after the killing, Shaun Leckenby said his father had stabbed him first.

After his arrest, he was taken to hospital to receive treatment for a knife wound to his thigh.

The court heard he told officers: "He stabbed me in the leg so I stabbed him twice."

Ronald Leckenby was found to have 14 major stab wounds on his body. Two pierced his heart.

In police interview, Shaun Leckenby said he could remember nothing of what had happened when his father died.

The trial continues.