A MAN was stabbed in the chest and died after rushing to the aid of his pal who was being attacked by a knifeman.

Manchester Crown Court heard how 43-year-old Keith Harris and his friend Terrence Moore were accosted by drunken Michael Long in Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, just before 7.30am on August 15 last year.

When a request for a cigarette was refused Long went to a nearby house, armed himself with a knife and tried to attack Mr Moore as he walked to the nearby Premier convenience store.

Michael Lavery, prosecuting, told how Mr Harris tried to help his friend but was fatally stabbed.

Giving evidence, Mr Moore told the court how he heard the attacker utter the word “die” as Long plunged a knife into Mr Harris’ chest.

A jury of seven women and five men heard how Long then tried to claim to shocked store staff and shoppers that the men had tried to rob him and even punched Mr Moore as he tried to tend to his injured friend, who told him:”Hey mate, I’m dying.”

Long fled the scene fled, crashing a Citroen car at the junction with Wilson Road, which left other road users injured and blocked the road as the emergency services tried to get to the shop.

Mr Lavery said he was arrested and, in the police van, attempted to snort cocaine from a bag he had on him and, when handcuffs were taken off him at the police station, tried to lick his hands clean.

Long, aged 36, of no fixed address, admits he stabbed Mr Harris but denies murdering him, the attempted murder of Mr Moore and possessing a knife.

The court was told that he has already pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and possessing cocaine.

Interviewed by police, Long claimed to have no recollection of the attacks, claiming he had spent the previous night drinking 12 cans of strong lager and taking cocaine.

The jury heard how best friends Mr Harris and Mr Moore had been walking towards the Premier store that morning in order to get Mr Harris some food to take with him on a decorating job.

Outside the Queen Victoria pub they encountered Long, who “stank of booze” and a request for a cigarette was refused.

“It seems the defendant did not take kindly to being refused and words were exchanged,” said Mr Lavery.

“The refusal to give him what he wanted had caused him to become angry and it is clear now that he wanted to further confront Mr Moore and Mr Harris."

After encountering the two victims in the street Long went to a house nearby in Ainsworth Road where he had been staying with his girlfriend, Kayleigh Westmoreland , and armed himself with a knife.

“It was a deliberate, considered action,” said Mr Lavery.

Just 14 seconds later Long was was back in the street and confronting Mr Moore, who has emphysema and was lagging behind his friend.

Mr Moore backed away from his attacker, who was holding a purple kitchen knife, wrapping his coat around his arm in order to fend off slashed and jabs from Long.

Mr Moore fell through the doorway into the shop with Long on top of him.

“Customers and staff in the shop stood by, shocked at what they could see and hear, and were frozen as events unfolded,” said Mr Lavery.

"On seeing the attack Mr Harris went, unhesitatingly, to the aid of his friend and tried to pull him away from his attacker.

But Long used his knife on the Good Samaritan and Mr Moore told how he saw his friend wounded.

“There was just one word, it was just ‘die’ and there was a stabbing right in his chest,” said Mr Moore.

Mr Harris staggered to the back of the shop where Mr Moore said he found him.

“He opened his shirt and blood was squirting out of his chest,” said Mr Moore, who added that he grabbed napkins from a shelf to try and stem the bleeding.

Mr Lavery added that Long continued to walk in and out of the shop, even punching Mr Moore as he was on the floor tending to his friend.

“Perhaps realising what he had done, Long tried to suggest to people in the shop that the pair had robbed him and that was why he had done it, “ said Mr Lavery.

“This attempt at justifying what he knew was unprovoked violence gives a clear indication of his conscious decision making as he immediately tried to justify his behaviour and blame others.”

The jury were shown extensive CCTV footage of the street confrontation and the scene inside the shop as Mr Harris was stabbed, staggered away down an aisle and collapsed.

He was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8.17am. The stab wound had cut an artery and a lung.

"He bled into the lungs and drowned," said Mr Lavery.

The trial continues.