Razvan Sirbu murder-accused 'frightened' by 'machete'

Post-mortem tests showed Razvan Sirbu died from blunt force trauma to the head and body

A man accused of murdering a rough sleeper was "frightened" the man was about to attack him with a machete, a court has been told.

Charlie White, 19, and co-defendant Alex Macdonald, 19, both deny murdering Razvan Sirbu, 21, in Tovil, near Maidstone, Kent, on 7 May.

A third defendant, Jimmy Buckley, 20, has been found unfit to plead.

In his defence, Mr White, of no fixed address, told the court when he found Mr Sirbu, he was "very, very angry".

He said: "I couldn't understand what he was saying. I thought he was going to chop me in half."

Describing the sequence of events, Mr White told his defence counsel, David Hislop QC, he had been planning to steal a lawnmower that evening.

He said he took a meat cleaver because he needed to cut some wire and was wary of the person he was selling the mower to.

Razvan Sirbu's body was found in an area of woodland in Tovil, Maidstone

He met Mr Macdonald, of Regency Place, Maidstone, Mr Buckley, his brother and another friend on the way and told them he would meet them later.

But as he continued, Mr Macdonald rang him.

Mr White said: "He was telling me I needed to go back. There was a geezer going off his head or something."

As he headed back, he said he could hear shouting.

'Machete fright'

He continued: "I saw a man holding out his arm with something in his hand.

"I now know it was a piece of wood, but I thought it was a machete. He was waving it around in front of him towards the boys.

"I thought he was going to hurt me or my little brother. I was frightened."

He described taking the meat cleaver out of his pocket as Mr Sirbu came towards him.

After hitting him "two or three times", he told the court he grabbed his brother, leaving Mr Macdonald behind.

As they left, he described hearing "banging" which went on "for a minute or two".

The trial continues.