Byron Griffin: Stabbing witness says he was scared for his life

Byron Griffin was attacked by a number of men outside a block of flats

A man who was with a friend when he was a fatally stabbed in Derbyshire has said he was "scared for his life".

Byron Griffin was found fatally injured in Eyre's Garden, Ilkeston, on 4 July 2021 and later died in hospital.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, drove with Mr Griffin and others to flats in Ilkeston.

He told Derby Crown Court Mr Griffin spoke to a man, but the conversation "went from zero to 100" and the 22-year-old was attacked with a machete.

Machete drawn

Questioned by the prosecution, the witness said immediately after arriving at the flats Mr Griffin, from East Leake in Nottinghamshire, went to talk to a man standing outside.

He said: "I couldn't hear the words but it went from zero to 100 in five seconds. It kicked off.

"I was walking over towards them, I wanted to make sure everything was alright.

"Then the man got a machete from behind him."

'Screaming and swinging'

Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones QC asked what happened next.

The witness said: "Three or four people burst out of the door to the flats.

"They all had something on them, I saw a bat and a knife.

"They were screaming and swinging. I was scared for my life".

The witness said the others got between him and Mr Griffin, who then fled down an alleyway.

He said he did not see Mr Griffin get stabbed and only realised what had happened when he saw an ambulance in a neighbouring street.

Dylan Geary, 22, Daniel Lewsley, 32, Jordan Fairbrother, 26 and Grant James Masterson, 29, all originally from Ilkeston, have denied murder.

The trial continues.