THE best friend of a man fatally stabbed with a 20cm kitchen knife sobbed as he recalled the brutal attack which took place in front of him.

Natasha Capell denies murdering 23-year-old Kyle Byfield at her Banbury home on April 16.

But the mother-of-one admitted one count of manslaughter during the first day of the trial on Monday.

Opening the case yesterday, prosecutor Alan Blake told jurors at Oxford Crown Court the stabbing was a “spur of the moment impulse” carried out by a “hot headed” 26-year-old woman who had been drinking.

He said Mr Byfield, who was a “popular and hard working man” and died of a stab wound to the chest, finished work at Banbury warehouse Hella before heading into the town centre.

Mr Byfield later joined best friend Jake Orwa at his mother’s Harlech Close home sometime after 1.30am on April 16, where he and Capell were drinking with others.

The prosecutor said Mr Orwa, Mr Byfield and Capell later left the house to buy alcohol before arriving at the defendant’s Jubilee Court home shortly after 6.15am.

Mr Blake said Capell ran into the kitchen following an argument with the victim, returning with a 20cm blade which she then used to stab him.

Jurors were told paramedics arrived at about 7.30am after Mr Orwa told an emergency operator Mr Byfield had fallen on glass, “going along” with the story which was suggested by Capell.

Mr Orwa told jurors arguments between Capell and the victim started “heating up” at her first-floor flat, with the defendant threatening to stab Mr Byfield and throwing a mug across the room.

The 22-year-old said Capell ran into the kitchen before she returned with the blade, which she swung around, “trying to get him”.

Mr Orwa said he grabbed the knife from Capell after she stabbed the victim and threw it into the kitchen before getting a tea towel to hold on Mr Byfield’s wound.

He said Capell then began to shout and scream “I can’t go down for this”.

The witness added: “I was panicking. I was crying. My head was all over the place. I was seeing my best mate on the floor dying. I did not know what to do.”

Mr Orwa, whose half-sister Danielle Orwa had been friends with Capell for about six or seven years, said he left the property about 10minutes after paramedics arrived, unable to watch his best friend fight for his life.

Defence barrister Adrian Redgrave said Capell became “more and more angry and upset” after Mr Orwa and Mr Byfield refused to leave her home.

Mr Redgrave said to Mr Orwa: “It’s untrue that she was threatening to stab him [Mr Byfield].”

Mr Orwa replied: “I know what I saw. What happened that night, it could not get any worse, I lost one of my best mates.”

The trial continues.