Accused admits kicking dead man

Stephen Langford died after an attack in the street

A teenager has admitted kicking and punching the man he is accused of murdering, a court heard.

James Diggens, 19, told the jury that he kicked and punched Stephen Langford to stop him from attacking his friend.

But he told Inner London Crown Court he did not mean to kill the father of two, or even to badly injure him.

Mr Diggens, from Reading, Berkshire, and Kes Ingoldsby, 18, from Henley, Oxfordshire, deny Mr Langford's Murder in December 2006.

The 19-year-old told the court it was the first time he had ever hit anyone, and the single punch he threw which hit his alleged victim's face "was not hard at all".

'Silly argument'

The court heard Mr Langford fell to the ground and hit his head with a "dull thud".

Mr Diggens told the jury he then kicked Mr Langford "almost immediately" after he was on the ground, and that the single kick was not hard either.

Mr Diggens said he kicked Mr Langford because he thought he was going to get up and attack us again.

The court heard that seconds later Mr Langford was slapped once more by Mr Ingoldsby, and then not hit again.

Mr Diggens said he and Mr Ingoldsby, along with two others, went home without thinking Mr Langford had been seriously injured.

I couldn't believe it, that a silly argument turned into this James Diggens

Mr Diggens told the jurors he mentioned the fight to his mother the next morning, but then thought nothing more of it.

Later that afternoon, the court heard, a friend texted him to say someone had been murdered in Henley-on-Thames the previous evening.

"I didn't think it was anything to do with me. I thought it was something else that had happened," Mr Diggens said.

He told the court he only realised the sales director had died when he watched the evening news on the following afternoon.

"I was gutted, I couldn't believe it, that a silly argument turned into this," he said.