A pub landlord told how he fought for his life after being attacked by an employee he had just fired and then got arrested on suspicion of murder.

Durban-born David Brown, 50, feared he would never see his children again after being confronted by two men in his pub, The Cricketers Inn at Meopham.

He told a jury at Maidstone Crown Court how five foot five inch Miguel Batista - known as Alex – told him he had paid the second man £2,000 to kill Mr Brown

The South African said the attack happened just days after he had dismissed the senior barman following an incident with Batista's wife.

The prosecution has alleged that during the joint attack by Batista and his brother-in-law Craig Allen - Mr Brown was stabbed and hit with a spade.

During the incident, Batista - who has denied attempted murder - fled leaving behind his brother-in-law who later died from his injuries

Initially, Mr Brown was arrested for murder and he told the jury that he accepted that he had caused the injuries which killed Allen.

"I was cautioned by police after coming out of hospital and spent the night in a police cell before being interviewed."

Ahmed Hossain KC asked why he later told police that the seven injuries to Craig Allen could have been caused by him.

"All my actions were in self-defence, " he said.

On the days prior to the incident, Portuguese-born Batista, 29, believed the pub manager was having an affair with his wife and confronted his former boss.

The Batistas - who had recently married - had fallen out and had parted after an incident in which he was alleged to have shoved her and she fell down some steps. Her fall was caught by Mr Brown.

That led to Batista being dismissed after a showdown with his boss and he was ordered to leave the pub flat which he shared with his wife.

On November 5 last year Mr Brown was in his flat in the pub when he heard a knock on his door.

As he opened the door he was confronted by a man in a hood armed with a silver knife.

"I said Hi..how are you? Can I help you? What's going on? I put my hand out to stop him coming into my flat.

"There was not a word from them but he was trying to push past when the guy behind came up the steps and tried to push past andI thought he had just punched me on my left thigh.

"I thought it was a hard punch until I felt hot running down my left leg. I looked down and there was a pool of blood. I was in shock, " he said.

Mr Brown said that "hoodie" - who was Allen - then pushed into the flat.

"He was wearing his hoodie with it pulled tight over his face.I put my hand out to try to stop him. I put my left foot forward.

"I didn't see a knife initially...but later I saw Alex with a hunting knife and a Stein glass. I saw a spade."

Mr Brown claimed he was stabbed by Allen and then felt a whack on his head from a spade and was then stabbed again in the throat.

Mr Hossain suggested that Allen had the Rambo knife - to which Mr Brown replied: "No that never happened."

"I was in shock and I then sat in the middle of my bed as blood from my head wound was in my eyes. Allen then began pushing a knife into my eye. He was hyped up.

"Batista said he wanted to put music on to drown out the screaming. He went through the lounge but couldn't do it."

Mr Brown claimed that during the action, Batista repeatedly shouted: "kill him" before picking up a fire extinguisher and hitting the landlord.

At one point Batista is alleged to have told him that his face would be the last he would see before dying.

Mr Brown claimed Batista later put down the knife as he tried to send his wife a message on Mr Brown's phone.

"They asked me to send Cara a message but they weren't happy with the words he used. Allen then tried to gouge out his eyes, hitting me with the edge of the knife over my knuckles."

The landlord said Batista wanted him to send a message to Mrs Batista saying he was going to re-employ his £10.50 an hour barman.

But it was then that Mr Brown grabbed the Rambo knife and made a dash for the door to escape, using the weapon defensively, he claimed.

"I was trying to keep the knife away from him. I had lost a lot of blood, " he said.

Today, Batista's estranged wife Cara, who now calls herself MacDonald, also appeared in court to give evidence.

She said their relationship had started in March 2021.

Prior to the two meeting, she was in a relationship with Ryan, who also worked at the pub. Then she began dating Batista and the two married on July 26.

“After leaving the relationship with Ryan, the two were in the bath and he began asking me questions about past relationships.

"He was asking questions about Ryan and I could see he was getting agitated. He lunged towards me and held me under the water. I felt like I was under there for a very long time.

"I got the plug out and he pulled me up. He was sorry. He seemed very shaken and he was crying."

In February 2022, the two began working together at the Cricketers and Batista and Mr Brown got on well.

"It changed a bit when we moved in. David is a big character and he and I have the same sense of humour and we enjoyed banter through texts."

Mr Brown, a spiritualist, performed a ritual on Alex to rid him of a demon in summer 2022.

On October 25, 2022, she and three others went to a Turkish restaurant.

Cara, 32, added: "We returned to the Cricketers and went to the bar and I went out for a cigarette.

"Alex got annoyed with me because I was away from him. It ended up with me saying I didn't want to be around him.

"He was getting agitated and was raising his voice. I said I was going to spend the night with Lisa, a member of staff. He got very angry and threw me down some steps.

"I fell into David. He caught me and we spoke the following day.

“On October 29, Alex hit me, mostly on my arms and legs with his fist as I was covering my face and the next day I spoke with David about what happened.

"Alex was in the bar but came up (to the office) and knocked on the door and said he wanted to speak with me and I went outside the pub.

"I decided I wasn't going to stay in the relationship. I said to him that we were over. He said he knew. I told him he couldn't do that."

Days later she spoke with police officers in a police car which was parked in the pub car park.

“Alex was arrested after I told police about the attack. The following day I saw him and took him to the hospital's A&E."

She said he later slept in her car for two nights which was parked in the car park.

On November 5, she was working at the pub and video called Batista.

"He was in my car and was with Craig. I told him I called to see if he was OK. But he didn't want to speak with me and passed the phone to Craig."

In the evening she said she spoke with the manager before returning to work and Mr Brown then went upstairs to his flat.

At 8.30pm she went out of the back door to smoke a cigarette and spoke with Alex by phone.

"He asked me if it was definitely over. I said yes. It was a very short conversation. I said I had enough.”

The trial continues.