A HOMELESS Somali man today denied stabbing a stranger after an argument in an Oxford bus queue.

Ahmed Aw-Adam, 32, told Oxford Crown Court he did not have a knife with him on the night of the alleged attack in February last year.

The former Unipart worker said he had been drinking heavily the day before and could not remember any confrontation in the bus queue.

The court had earlier heard from his alleged victim Raoul Ntaganya, who showed the jury a 5in scar on his arm.

Aw-Adam, of no fixed address, said Mr Ntaganya, a hotel barman, had followed him down the street after they got off the bus - rather than the other way round - and attacked him from behind.

He admitted having six boxcutter knives when police searched the address where he was staying about a month later but said that he used them to open packaging at work.

Henry James, prosecuting, said Mr Ntaganya's DNA was found on one of the knives.

But Colin McCarraher, defending, said the DNA did not necessarily come from Mr Ntaganya's blood and could have been accidentally transferred on to the knife.

Aw-Adam denies a charge of wounding with intent.

The case continues.