EYEWITNESSES to a 'savage' killing have detailed in court for the first time what they saw on the night of the alleged murder.

Michael Yemane, 20, of South Bridge Row, Oxford, Welid Solomon, 25, of Field Avenue, Oxford, Sasan Mohammed Khalid, 19, of no fixed abode, and Safeen Abdullah Karimi, 28, of Hode Garth, Thame, all deny one count of murder.

They are on trial at Oxford Crown Court in relation to the killing of 22-year-old Luciano Dos Santos Almeida.

Prosecutors claim that Mr Almeida was ran over before being repeatedly stabbed at Southfield Road in East Oxford at about 11.30pm on February 27 this year.

READ AGAIN: The prosecution's opening of the case last week.

As their trial continued yesterday eyewitnesses told jurors what they saw that night.

One witness, off-duty police officer Thomas Davies, told jurors he had just parked up at Southfield Road when he heard a loud noise.

He said: "There was a sound of a bang at the bottom of the road, not too loud, enough to hear passed my car with the engine off.

"My immediate instinct was it was the sound of a car door slamming but that changed when I looked out the window and saw the car mounted on the kerb."

PC Davies then said he saw a group of 'five to seven' people running up Southfield Road.

He added: "At first it seemed they were all part of one group, they were all running away from something.

READ AGAIN: The second day of the case last week.

"It was then later that it transpired they seemed to be from two separate groups.

"What I witnessed was one group was grabbing hold of the other group and the other group seemed to be trying to get away."

He said he also noticed one of the defendants - Karimi - on his own saying he had been stabbed, and that the officer then called 999.

The trial continues.