A teenager accused of murdering a homeless Romanian claimed one of his friends confessed he had “finished him off”.

Alex Macdonald told a jury he struck Razvan Sirbu “a few times” with a piece of wood and Charlie White hit him with a meat cleaver.

But he claimed the 21-year-old victim was still standing when they walked away and said Jimmy Buckley remained and later admitted he had finished him off.

Macdonald, 19, of Regency Place, and White, 19, previously of Quarry Road, both Maidstone, deny murder.

Buckley, 20, of Capell Close, Coxheath, has been found unfit to plead and the jury will have to decide whether he “did the act”.

Maidstone Crown Court has heard the three had gone out on the evening of May 6 to steal a lawnmower when they allegedly attacked Mr Sirbu while he was sleeping rough in a tent in the Loose Valley Conservation Area.

His body was discovered the next morning by a dog walker. A wooden chair leg he was thought to have for protection was between his legs.

He died from “blunt force trauma” to the head and torso. He had multiple skull and facial bone fractures and other injuries, including broken ribs.

Assisted by an intermediary, Macdonald, who has autism and ADHD, gave evidence by TV link with another courtroom.

He said Mr Sirbu was aggressive and made a grab for a boy with them who urinated on his tent.

“We thought he was holding a machete but it was a lump of wood,” he continued. “He was waving it about at everyone. He was being violent.

“I thought the man was going to attack one of us. I hit him to the body a few times with a lump of wood. Charlie hit the man with the meat cleaver about six or seven times.”

He, White and two boys with them then walked off, while Buckley remained, he claimed.

When Buckley rejoined them his finger was bleeding.

All five then went to an address in Quarry Road, Tovil.

“I said it shouldn’t have happened, it could have happened in a different way,” he said.

Macdonald said Buckley’s hoodie was burnt the next day by White because it had blood on it.

While sharing a prison cell with White, Macdonald was said to have signed a confession to the killing.

A letter written by White and signed by Macdonald claimed he wanted “off his own back” to plead guilty to his involvement in the killing.

But Macdonald claimed he thought it was an application form to send clothes out of prison.

The trial continues.