Sachin Hawkins: Housemate 'did not feel knife going into student' - court

Sachin Hawkins, who had been living in America with his mother, was in his second year at the university

A student accused of stabbing his housemate to death in a row over music has told jurors he did not feel the knife going into the victim.

Sachin Hawkins was fatally stabbed at the shared house in Hardy Street, Hull, in November 2023.

Syed Hussain-Kazi, 25, of Hardy Street, denies murder.

Hull Crown Court heard the pair had traded insults, which the defendant said had become "more threatening" and escalated to "a scuffle".

Mr Hussain-Kazi told the jury he and Mr Hawkins were having "banter" when the defendant "started poking fun" at his taste in music, but the mood in the student house then changed.

The court heard Mr Hussain-Kazi had drank two bottles of alcohol and was helping another housemate to clean up in the kitchen when he picked up a knife to wash up.

Mr Hussain-Kazi said the 19-year-old twice repeated an insult but "the second time he seemed a bit more threatening."

"He came close to me so I grabbed him by the collar and pushed him back," said the defendant.

The stabbing happened inside a shared house in Hardy Street in Hull

During the "scuffle", Mr Hawkins "slipped and lost his balance" before falling, the court heard.

"I didn't deliberately go stab him in the chest. I just remember a scuffle happening," Mr Hussain-Kazi told jurors.

He denied feeling the knife going in and out of Mr Hawkins.

"I didn't feel any penetration from the knife," he said.

Mr Hussain-Kazi said he dropped the knife when he saw blood and grabbed a tea towel to put on Mr Hawkins' chest.

When asked by his defence barrister David Lamb KC if he intended to kill Mr Hawkins, the defendant replied: "I did not intend to kill him."

Mr Hussain-Kazi told the court he "wasn't entirely sure of events" on the night of 15 November as he could not remember.

The court heard he had previous convictions for two offences, including a knifepoint street robbery in 2019, in which the defendant was carrying a kitchen knife.

Jurors heard the defendant could also not remember another incident in November 2022 in which prosecutors claimed he "waved" a knife in front of a student's face at university halls of residence.

Prosecutors told the jury Mr Hawkins "wasn't a threat" to the defendant, who had stabbed him through the heart" with a 15cm-long (6in) knife.

The trial at Hull Crown Court continues.