Scarface nickname: Man known as Tony Montana 'murdered friend'

A man whose nickname is Al Pacino's character in the Scarface movie stabbed to death his friend in a "brutal and merciless attack", a court heard.

Mane Driza - also known as Tony Montana - is accused of murdering Stefan Bledar Mone at a flat in north London and leaving him with at least 120 injuries.

Mr Driza, who denies murder, attacked his friend thinking he had stolen his wedding ring, the Old Bailey heard.

At the time, on 22 June 1999, Mr Mone was a father-to-be.

Mr Driza, then a stonemason and aged 21, told workmates in Watford he would kill his fellow Albanian, even asking one of them to take him to buy a knife, jurors were told.

'Horrific scene'

In the meantime, Mr Mone had taken his six months-pregnant girlfriend to a hospital appointment, the court heard.

CCTV cameras were used to track the defendant returning to Mr Mone's flat in Wembley, where the jury was told he was fatally injured.

The prosecution said weapons, allegedly used in the killing, included a lock knife, pick axe and cheese knife and were found next to the body.

Mr Mone's girlfriend, Zoe Blay, was confronted by a "horrific scene" when she found his body the next day, only able to identify him by a distinctive belt buckle on his trousers.

By then Mr Driza had already fled to Italy, his trial was told.

'Murder in heart'

When British police tracked him down in Sicily in 2000, Mr Driza told officers there had been a dispute over money and Mr Mone had approached him with a knife, the court heard.

"He travelled to Wembley with murder in his heart and when he found Stefan, he killed him in a way that was brutal and merciless," said prosecutor Tim Cray.

The court heard the defendant, now aged 41 and of no fixed address, and Mr Mone had become friends after arriving in the UK from Albania.

Mr Driza arrived in August 1997, claiming to be a 17-year-old fleeing from Kosovo, the court heard.

The trial continues.