A young father's annoyance about being ignored in the street may have been the cause for the knife fight that led to his death, an Old Bailey jury heard today.

Adrian Young was stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife in Cromwell Road, Thornton Heath, on August 26 last year.

Jurors were told that either Mr Young or the accused, Jordan Glasgow, from Sydenham, could have been the victim in the case as they were both armed with knives and were goading each other on.

Opening the case for the prosecution this morning, Mark Dennis said the dispute started nearby when the victim spotted Mr Glasgow, 27, talking to a shared acquaintance.

The 24-year-old had been on his way back to his girlfriend's house in Cromwell Road after having lunch with her in a cafe when he asked the acquaintance why he was talking to Mr Glasgow.

Jurors heard Mr Young was annoyed as Mr Jordan had ignored him earlier when he had said hello in the street.

Mr Dennis told the court: "What started as a verbal argument quickly developed into an extremely violent one.

"Both men would appear to be at fault for the violence that erupted.

"Both men used fists then picked up wood that had been found in the street then escalating into a knife fight.

"Both armed themselves with kitchen knives during a lull in the violence.

"Both men had the opportunity to simply walk away from the trouble."

During the afternoon the jury heard from witnesses who described hearing shouting and the sound of punching and kicking at about 4.30pm last August 26.

This is 15 minutes before Mr Young, who had an eight month old child, was knifed in the heart near his girlfriend's home in Cromwell Road.

 Eileen Darmundas had a clear view of the fighting behind her address in Berney Road.

 In a witness statement read out to jurors, Ms Darmundas said: "I could see two black men, a dark skinned one (Mr Glasgow) and a lighter skinned (Mr Young).

"Both had their hands round each other's throats.

"The men were shouting and swearing at each other.

"The dark skinned man was the more violent of the two and he was the more aggressive of the two.

"As the fight continued I saw the dark skin man slam the light skin man against the wall.

"He fell to the floor and I assume that the dark skin man was kicking him because of the way swaying his body around and the movement of his shoulders.

"I could hear a woman screaming get the f*** off him, get the f**** off him. Her voice appeared to be coming from the block of flats and the dark skin man went down to where she must have been.

"I then saw the light skin man stand up and he appeared to be dazed and I could see that he was missing some skin from his face.

"The light skin man then walked down the same direction [as the dark skin man]."

Ronald Hurst, who watched the start of the fight in the alleyway through a hole in his back gate, told the court: "Mr Young went down [after being punched] and as he got up he had a piece of wood in his hand and I heard a voice saying that if you use that you will be in trouble.

"The guy punched him again and he went down again. He would have been dazed and would have been a bit wobbly."

The jury at the Old Bailey heard earlier today Mr Young, 24, went to his girlfriend's house where he armed himself with a bread knife, despite people in the house trying to stop him.

After his initial arrest Mr Glasgow, denied having a knife and said he had stabbed the victim in self defence.

In a police interview he gave a pre-prepared statement where he admitted having a small kitchen knife that he had got from a friend's house in Cromwell Road.

The court heard he said he had done this to defend himself as he knew Mr Young was getting a knife.

In the knife fight Mr Young was stabbed twice and sustained some cuts. Mr Glasgow was described as having superficial cuts.

Mr Young tried to get into his girlfriend's house after he had been stabbed but Mark Dennis, prosecuting, said she did not let him in.

He said: "she thought he would bring the fight indoors where she had their eight month old so he went back up the street.

"He collapsed in the arms of the police officers who had arrived at that very moment."

Police tracked down Mr Jordan two days later and arrested him at his girlfriend's house in Silverdale, Sydenham.

Mr Dennis, prosecuting, said: "Even before leaving the address [he] was saying all he had done was by way of self defence.

"He was saying that his opponent had attacked him with a knife [and that the] and the stab wound occurred when he was trying to wrestle it from his opponent's grasp.

"The assertion about there being a single knife and that the defendant impaled himself, that was quite false."

Jurors were also told the defendant and the deceased had known each other for several years.

Until that day last year there was no known animosity between them.

Mr Glasgow denies murdering Mr Young

The trial continues.