A MAN alleged to have stabbed a female friend three times in a dispute over missing alcohol has told a jury the woman attacked him over a bottle of vodka he had bought.

Ravi Jeyendran, 53, of Schooner Street in Barrow, is on trial at Preston Crown Court charged with causing the woman grievous bodily harm by unlawful and malicious wounding on the evening of May 4 last year.

The 53-year-old is said to have held a ‘large kitchen knife’ to the woman’s throat before stabbing her to the abdomen, shoulder and back as she attempted to leave his house following an alleged row over the complainant’s missing bottle of wine.

Prosecutor Catherine Ellis showed pictures of the victim’s stab wounds to the jury when outlining the case on Wednesday (May 29).

Ms Ellis alleged the two had a ‘couple of vodkas’ at Mr Jeyendran’s flat at 8:30 am before the complainant purchased a bottle of wine from a nearby Co-Op store a few hours later for her and her partner (not the defendant) to enjoy later that evening.

Ms Ellis says the complainant then went for a nap in the defendant’s bedroom in the afternoon and that she awoke to find her alcohol had gone missing.

Ms Ellis said the Crown was relying on traces of the defendant’s blood found on the wall by the front door of his property to prove his guilt.

READ MORE HERE: Man accused of stabbing female friend multiple times after 'row over wine'

The defendant took to the stand to give his version of events to the jury on Thursday afternoon (May 30).

He told the court the woman had lived above him for years, that she had an alcohol problem and that she would regularly seek ‘refuge’ in his flat.

“She is funny when she is sober, but she becomes aggressive when she starts drinking,” Mr Jeyendran told the jury.

“When she has too many drinks, she gets rowdy, and on occasions she has physically attacked me.”

Mr Jeyendran’s barrister Jimmy Vakil told the court the complainant had previous convictions for being drunk and disorderly whilst in the presence of the defendant at his address and for stealing alcohol from a Co-Op store in Barrow.

Mr Vakil said she was released from prison on April 25 – nine days before the alleged incident – after serving a six-month sentence for three other shoplifting matters and for stealing and attempting to use the defendant’s bank card.

The defendant told the court the woman was homeless after her release and that she asked him if she could stay at his premises.

Mr Jeyendran told the jury that two ‘menacingly looking’ men paid a visit his flat to see if she was there and that she then devised ‘a special door knock’ so he would know it was her at his door and not anyone else.

Mr Jeyendran said the woman had ‘a bit of cheek’ when she asked if she could come into his property on the morning of the alleged incident after he had called the police on May 3 because of her drunk and disorderly behaviour.

“She apologised and asked if she could come in and use my phone to call her boyfriend at the time,” the defendant said.

“She said can I have a little drink please and we then both started drinking.”

Mr Vakil told the jury there were mobile phone screenshots that showed the complainant had made 44 calls to her boyfriend on the day in question.

He said a further 23 calls were made from the defendant’s phone between May 2 – May 3.

Mr Jeyendran told the jury he could not recall her going to purchase wine from Co-Op, but said it could have been ‘possible’ she did.

He added: “I went to the Co-Op around 3:00 pm as she was asleep in my bedroom. I didn’t want her to know I had gone and bought more alcohol. I bought a bottle of vodka and there was still a bit left in another.

“I hid the new bottle under the settee where I sit and took it to the toilet with me because I didn’t trust her and she was getting rowdy.”

Mr Jeyendran told the court the woman then attempted to grab the bottle of vodka off him and that there was a ‘tug of war’ between the two.

He said it resulted in her punching him to the left eye socket and her running into his bedroom.

He told the jury as a result he then ‘grabbed her and pushed her out of the flat’. He said this was the last time he had seen the complainant.

Mr Jeyendran categorically denied the complainant’s allegation that he held a knife to her throat before stabbing her to the stomach shoulder and back.

The trial continues.