A MURDER-accused man was caught buying a loaf of bread and a knife before allegedly bludgeoning his school friend with a baseball bat, a jury has heard.

Janaed Akhtar, 40, has been charged with murder after allegedly attacking Neil Comins in their shared home in Cope Road, Banbury, on Wednesday, January 3.

Mr Comins, 39, died the following day, with a pathologist later giving his cause of death as traumatic brain injury.

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The defendant, who told police he knew the victim while the pair were at secondary school, was charged with murder.

However, he denied the offence, stating that the victim had been assaulted by one of the other two housemates in the shared-occupancy home.

As a result, Akhtar was also charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice after his housemates were arrested and released without charge with the prosecution stating it was a ‘deliberate attempt’ to lead police away from him.

During the trial opening at Oxford Crown Court today (Monday, July 1), a jury heard the multi-occupancy house was run by Connection Support, a charity 'providing expert support to vulnerable people with complex and challenging needs’.

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Akhtar had moved in after Mr Comins in March 2023, allegedly with the victim’s help, but had been reportedly ‘threatened’ with an eviction notice at the time of the offence.

He had allegedly changed the locks on his door as a result.

On the day of the incident, Akhtar was allegedly caught on CCTV buying half a loaf of bread and a knife before returning to Cope Road.

He then made an emergency call at about 3am, stating he had ‘heard two people having a fight’ and he was ‘too scared to leave his room’.

Akthar said: “I've heard an argument and then there was like a fight or something…I mean the other guy ran off but I don't know.

"I'm too scared to go out there in case he attacks me...I don't know if it's a drug thing."

When police arrived, they found Mr Comins in the kitchen with serious head injuries and he was taken to Horton General Hospital before being placed in a medically-induced coma and transferred to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington. 

However, his life support machine was turned off the following day and he died as a result of his injuries.

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A baseball was found under his bed with the DNA of Mr Comins found on the ‘striking end’ and Akhtar was arrested later that day.

He continued to deny the offence and told officers Mr Comins was ‘stamped on’ by a housemate.

The trial continues.