A KEY prosecution witness in a murder trial was accused in court of killing the victim himself then inventing a web of lies to pin the blame on someone else.

Lee Maher repeatedly answered "No" as defence counsel Richard Henriques tried to get him to admit he had viciously stabbed Joey Dean.

Mr Dean bled to death at his home in Fishmoor Drive, Blackburn, in February last year after being stabbed five times, once in the heart.

Maher a self confessed drug addict, of Fishmoor Drive, told a jury at Carlisle Crown court that his friend Martin Haggan had murdered Mr Dean.

But Mr Henriques claimed Maher killed him after the two fell out over a drugs deal.

Haggan, 22, of Silloth Close, Blackburn, pleads not guilty to the murder.

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