Man claims self-defence in baseball bat attack

Adrian Whiting, 35, died 10 days after the alleged attack outside of a Boston pub

A man claims he was trying to "save himself" from being assaulted when he struck a pub manager with a baseball bat, a murder trial has heard.

Adrian Whiting died ten days after the alleged attack outside the Carpenters Arms in Witham Street, Boston.

The prosecution alleges Maksim Iliev murdered Mr Whiting with a "fierce" blow deliberately aimed at the victim's head.

Mr Iliev, of Union Street, denies murder and manslaughter and told Lincoln Crown Court he was acting in self-defence.

Jurors heard Mr Iliev had been drinking at home on 14 January and was a "little bit" drunk when he left his house at 22:50 GMT to get some soft drinks.

The 35-year-old told defence barrister Allison Summers KC that he had been arguing with his partner, Katya Tsoneva, when a man appeared from the pub and said "get out of here".

"I said 'please, OK, OK, calm, we have no problem for you'," he told jurors.

CCTV footage appeared to show Mr Iliev moving twice towards Mr Whiting and Ms Tsoneva stepping in before the couple moved away.

'What else could I do'

Mr Iliev said he thought the incident was over until Mr Whiting, also 35, came back to the door of the pub.

He said he was apologising as he moved towards Mr Whiting and didn't see a bat.

"I go forward to explain myself. The first time I saw the bat was when it touched me in the tummy."

Mr Iliev said he felt that he being was assaulted with the bat. Jurors were then shown footage of him taking it from Mr Whiting and twice hitting him with it.

Ms Summers asked: "In your own words, why did you hit him with the baseball bat?"

He replied: "When he assaulted me, what else could I do, I was trying to save myself," adding that he feared being assaulted if Mr Whiting got up.

Ms Summers further asked: "When you hit the man did you intend to kill him?"

"No, no, no," Mr Iliev replied.

Katya Tsoneva, 34, of Red Lion Street, is also on trial and denies a charge of assisting an offender between 13 January and 25 January.

The trial continues.

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