Jurors agreed that a man who disappeared into his flat to fetch a knife after being confronted by a blade-wielding opponent was acting in self-defence.

Hasan Zubair, 22, was caught on CCTV face-to-face with armed opponent Alwyn Haggett, then 19, outside his block of flats in Alma Road, Banbury, on April 25.

After appearing to front up to each other, Zubair got into the front door, despite Haggett’s efforts to keep the door open.

He reappeared on camera around 48 seconds later, this time armed with a knife.

Their confrontation – characterised by the judge, Recorder John Bate-Williams as ‘posturing’ – continued for a couple of minutes before both men went on their way.

A jury at Oxford Crown Court this week heard that Zubair claimed to have been acting in self-defence, although the panel of 12 heard from neither the defendant nor his knife-wielding opponent Haggett.

Closing his client’s case on Thursday (September 28), defence barrister Peter du Feu asked the jury to acquit the defendant in the dock behind him.

“It might actually be your pleasure to put Mr Zubair out of his misery and say by your verdict, I hope not guilty, that you’re not sure he did the wrong thing,” he said.

Prosecuting, Nick Mather told the jury they had heard no evidence from the defendant that he had felt threatened and no evidence about why he came back out the flats armed with the knife.

There was, he added, no evidence about what the dispute with Haggett was about and no evidence that he had a good reason to have the knife out in public.

Summing the case up at the conclusion of the day-long trial, Recorder Bate-Williams said: “It’s sometimes said that every picture tells a story.

“In this case your task as the judges of the facts […] is made more straightforward by the clear photographs and the high-quality footage which we’ve seen on a number of occasions.”

Zubair, of Alma Road, Banbury, stared straight ahead as he stood in the dock on Thursday and the not guilty verdicts to allegations of affray and possession of a bladed article in a public place were read out.

On Friday (September 29), knifeman Haggett, 20, of Edward Street, Banbury, was handed a four month suspended prison sentence having pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to affray, possession of a knife and, in 2022, possession of cannabis.

He had previously faced more serious allegations of dealing class A drugs, but the matters were later dropped by the prosecution.