A Bulgarian man charged with killing a Serbian in a row over loud music claimed he acted in self-defence after he was held up against a wall by the neck and choked.

Emil Atanasov, 27, who stands accused of murdering 27-year-old Dragoljub Kristic in a Qawra apartment on February 11, told the police he had been attacked by the victim.

Police Inspector Keith Arnaud testified that Mr Atanasov said he was holding a penknife pointing at the victim, who was choking him, before he stabbed him.

From the police investigation it emerged that Mr Atanasov’s flatmate Dani Krstski, a 34-year-old Macedonian, had met two Serbs in a bar earlier that evening and at about midnight invited them up to the flat.

One of the Serbs, Zoran Jocic, 33 – Mr Atanasov’s friend – asked him for a set of speakers and he gave them to him.

At one point, the landlord’s son threatened to shut the electricity down if the music was not turned off.

When the power was switched off, an argument ensued.

The accused told the police he had told the others to turn the music down but they then blamed him when the power went out.

They assaulted him and he fetched a crowbar and a penknife from his bedroom to scare them off, but the attack continued and Mr Kristic grabbed him by the neck and held him up against the wall.

He was pointing the knife towards Mr Kristic and when he felt the crowbar being pulled from his hands, he stabbed him.

The men ran out of the flat and he dropped the crowbar in a pot plant and the penknife down a drain.

Mr Atanasov insisted that he never intended to kill Mr Kristic but only to scare him off, Insp. Arnaud said.

In a previous sitting, Mr Jocic said he had known the victim for about 10 years and they had an argument with the accused, in their own different languages.

However, he could not remember what it was all about and could not explain how they were communicating. He said he ran out of the flat to get help and when he returned with the police he found the victim on the floor covered in blood. The case continues.