Potter accused: 'I had no option'

The man accused of fatally stabbing Harry Potter actor Rob Knox has alleged that he was defending himself as he was under attack by a group.

The 18-year-old actor was knifed during a fight outside a bar in Sidcup, south-east London, last May.

Knox, of Swanley, Kent, had just finished filming the role of Marcus Belby in the forthcoming film Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.

Karl Bishop, 21, has denied murder and five charges of wounding with intent to cause GBH.

According to the BBC, Bishop, of Carlton Road, Sidcup, told the Old Bailey that he had "no other option".

"From what I can remember I was always going backwards and just swinging and trying to keep people away from me but they just kept coming towards me," he claimed.

"You wouldn't think people would run at someone who's got a knife. I didn't intend to wound anyone at all, but they attacked me. There was no other option. They ran at me, they attacked me. They had me surrounded at one point so I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to."

Bishop alleged that he was attacked a week before the fatal stabbing, then found himself in the same position on the night in question and ran home to get two knives. The trial continues.