A MAN on trial for a Newport murder, told a jury he tried to end the attack, and was not involved.

Richard Wallis, 43, of Keene Street, Newport, denied kicking Jan Jedrzejewski during an altercation on the same street, late on January 12 last year.

He said he pulled Mr Jedrzejewski’s attackers away after the man fell heavily between two cars, and turned him over to check on him.

He told Newport Crown Court Mr Jedrzejewski was “out cold.” Wallis stayed with him a few seconds then ran back to his house.

Asked by Paul Lewis QC, why he left Mr Jedrzejewski, Wallis said that after the attackers fled he "was suddenly there on my own. I’ve been in that position before, and I panicked”.

He said that 20 years ago, a police officer was assaulted and badly injured in the city’s Pill area, and he stayed with him and put him in the recovery position.

“I was not responsible (for the assault),” said Wallis, who was charged with causing grievous bodily harm, and sentenced to several years in prison.

The conviction was quashed on appeal, but he spent 18 months in custody and prison, and that was in his mind when he left Mr Jedrzejewski: “It was deja vu. I panicked and ran. I wish I hadn’t,” he said.

He encountered a drunk Mr Jedrzejewski at the nearby Cromwell Stores, helping bar the door to stop him re-entering the shop.

His fellow accused - Shaquille Crosdale, 18, of Fleetwood Close, Newport, and a 17-year-old youth who cannot be identified - were “laughing” at the man. Also charged with murder is 18-year-old Callum Banton, also of Fleetwood Close.

Wallis said Mr Jedrzejewski began swinging at him outside. He had not wanted to fight, but admitted telling the man that if he touched him “I will knock you out.”

He said he then ran home, told his partner “I think I’ve got a madman following me”, then watched Mr Jedrzejewski and his attackers “zigzag” across Keene Street, before intervening.

Proceeding.