A Latvian man has denied killing his partner's son as trouble erupted at flats in the early hours of New Year's Day.

Asked if he stabbed Dimitris Titovs, 47-year-old Juris Popovs simply replied: "No."

Maidstone Crown Court has heard there was bad feeling and violent rows between the two men before the fatal incident at Henley Place in London Road, Teynham, near Sitttingbourne.

Mr Titovs, 21, went to the flats late on New Year's Eve to see his mother Svetlana Kandate.

Prosecutor Kalyani Kaul QC said Popovs and Mr Titovs clashed in the early hours of January 1. There was then a row between Popovs and Miss Kandate inside their flat.

Fearing for his mother's safety, she said, Mr Titovs and friends banged on the door.

"I heard screams. I didn't know what the screams were about. I didn't understand what had happened. I didn't see Dimitris injured..." - Juris Popovs

As Miss Kandate opened it, her son fell or stumbled in. He was stabbed and collapsed in the doorway, it was said.

Giving evidence through a Russian interpreter, Popovs said Miss Kandate had told him in the afternoon she was pregnant.

Asked how he felt about it, he said: "Excellent. We talked about godparents."

At 8pm, he celebrated New Year at Moscow time with two shots of vodka. At 10pm, they celebrated the Latvian New Year in the same way.

Popovs said the British New Year was celebrated with champagne. "I was not drunk," he told the jury. "I would not drive, but I was OK."

Soon after midnight, Mr Titovs arrived. He went into the living room of the flat.

Asked if he was welcome there, Popovs replied: "No. I asked him to leave. He refused to go. He said he came over to visit his mum for New Year's. I had to push him out of the flat.

"We had an argument. I told him: 'If you want to see your mum, you can see her anywhere else, but not here in this flat. He was insulting me. He was swearing. We did not fight.

"Svetlana picked up the bottle of champagne and went out following her son."

Popovs said she later returned to the flat and smashed two bowls on the floor and overturned the table.

"There was no reaction from me," he added. "She was expressing her dissatisfaction because I didn't let her son in the house probably."

There was then banging on the door and he was asked why he was abusing Miss Kandate. About 30 minutes later, there were kicks at the door.

Popovs said he had taken car keys from Vladimir Losevs, who lived at the flats, because he was drunk and he was guarantor for him.

Another friend, Edgar Buliga, asked for the keys back. Popovs said he told them through the closed door a taxi had been called for them. The banging continued.

"I decided to open the door and stop this disturbance," he said. "As the door swung open I jumped back. Dimitris was falling down backwards."

Popovs added: "I saw Svetlana in front of me. She had been cleaning in the kitchen area and sitting room. She was facing the door and I was facing her.

"Dimitris fell onto her. She is sort of crouched. Dimitris was also crouched. Then he fell back towards the hall on his right side. Svetlana brushed past me and went to the sitting room.

"Edgar carried Dimitris to the communal hall and I shut the door. I heard screams. I didn't know what the screams were about. I didn't understand what had happened. I didn't see Dimitris injured."

Popovs said he had a superficial wound to his thigh, which he believed happened when Mr Titovs fell to the floor injured.

He added he did not know how the victim's blood came to be on the sandals and jogging bottoms he was wearing.

The court heard Mr Titovs was injured at 2am and Popovs was arrested at 2.39am.

Popovs denies murder and the trial continues.