Two men accused of attacking a relative in a family dispute claimed they acted in self-defence after he threatened them with a hammer, a court was told.

Nadeem Raja, 27, of Desmesne Furze, Headington, and cousin Mohammed Saeed, 43, of Swindon, made the claims before Oxford magistrates yesterday.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to causing Mr Shakeel Akhtar actual bodily harm on February 27 in Roosevelt Drive, Headington.

Raja said he stopped at traffic lights when Mr Akhtar, whom he claimed he did not recognise, tapped on his window and asked him to pull over in abusive language.

Mr Akhtar married Raja's sister, Farah Manzoor, without her family knowing last December.

After Raja turned into Roosevelt Drive and got out of the van, he said a car screeched round the corner and the man who had confronted him jumped out and walked towards him, holding a hammer.

Raja said: "He hit me with it on my arm. It was a painful blow and I thought my arm was going to fall off."

He claimed he and Mr Akhtar then grabbed and hit each other.

Raja admitted hitting Mr Akhtar in the chest with his fist, but said it was because he wanted him to drop the hammer. When asked if he attacked Mr Akhtar because he found out about his sister's secret marriage, Raja said he believed his sister was still married to her first husband following an arranged ceremony in Pakistan. Raja's co-defendant, Saeed, said he held up his hands and told Mr Akhtar that he was Miss Manzoor's cousin and did not want any trouble.

Saeed said he grabbed Mr Akhtar by the neck after he tried to push him and hung on to him throughout the following struggle. He denied hitting Mr Akhtar's head against the car windscreen.

He said: "I felt sick when I saw the blood because I had no intention of harming him at all."

The case continues.