ALLEGED Jericho murder victim Alex Innes had ‘struck lucky’ hours before he called another friend and told him 'yo, I've been stabbed', a jury heard.

The 25-year-old, who was fatally stabbed outside the Love Jericho cocktail bar in the early hours of November 13, was said by friend Hassan Hussain to have ‘struck lucky’ on slot machines earlier in the night.

In a statement read to the jury at Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday (May 17), Mr Hussain said his friend ‘Innes’ won £300 on a slot machine at Ladbrokes in Cowley Road. He had stopped off at the betting shop as they tried different fast food restaurants for a bite of dinner.

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Mr Innes’ luck did not last. At 12.43am he called another friend, Shohaib Ahmed, and said: “Yo, I’ve been stabbed.”

The shocking revelation came as jurors began hearing the evidence in the trial of four men accused of murdering Kidlington man Mr Innes in Jericho last year.

On Wednesday morning, the 12-strong jury panel visited the scene of Mr Innes’ death – with a heavy police presence as Walton Street was sealed off for at least an hour to ensure no members of the public interfered.

The purpose of the trip was to allow the jury to see the location of various CCTV cameras from which footage was retrieved by detectives.

Before the jurors got on the coach to be driven the short distance to Walton Street, Judge Ian Pringle KC told them that they may see ‘memorials’ to Mr Innes by the side of the road. “Please do not be affected by them,” he said.

Following the jury’s return to Oxford Crown Court, they heard evidence being given about the run-up to the events of November 12, including an exchange between the alleged victim and Muinami on Snapchat and a discussion between them at a Cowley Road shisha bar six days before the older man’s death.

A friend of Mr Innes, Shohaib Ahmed, said that he had come across the man in Walton Street at 11.54pm as his friend approached Love Jericho.

It was a chance encounter, the jury was told.

He stopped and wound down the passenger window to speak to Mr Innes.

"I said to him 'look, what you doing here?' He said 'I'm going to see a ting', meaning he was going to see a girl,” Mr Ahmed said.

His friend asked whether he looked 'good'. "Yeah, you look fly," Mr Ahmed said he replied; telling the jurors that his friend had 'always' looked good.

He added that Mr Innes ‘seemed happy’, later telling the jury: “He was always happy, to be honest.”

Mr Innes and his friend went their separate ways.

Later, at 12.43am, Mr Ahmed received a call from ‘Innes’’ number. It was Alex.

“He said, ‘yo, I’ve been stabbed’. He's a bit of a jokey guy so I thought he was joking at first."

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But Mr Ahmed and the friend he was with, Jay, could hear Mr Innes’ phone 'hit the floor'. "I said to my mate 'look, I don't think he's joking'.”

They drove to Walton Street, where they had last seen their friend, and found Mr Innes on the ground.

Whilst there, Mr Ahmed said his friend Jay spotted a car being driven ‘extremely slowly’ with a group of young men filming the events. The friend tried to ‘grab’ the phone filming the scene but was prevented from doing so by a police officer, he said.

Four men deny murder, manslaughter and possession of a knife. They are: Keyarno Johnson-Allen, 19, of Furlong Close; Michael Oluyitan, 19, of Waynflete Road; Bradley Morton, 18, of Cumberlege Close; and Greg Muinami, 19, of Cranham Street.

The trial continues.