THE desperate moments after a teenager was stabbed in a gang attack have been told in court.

Lewis Singleton was surrounded by five people who had been "lying in wait" in a car.

He was knifed repeatedly including once in his back and abdomen and they kicked and punched him as he lay on the ground, Winchester Crown Court heard.

The attackers, all teenagers, had pounced from a silver car which had passed Lewis, 18, and his friend Craig Smith as they walked home along Obelisk Road, Woolston, Southampton, in the early hours of March 31 last year.

Jurors were told that the car stopped, the gang jumped out and ran across the road before unleashing the violence on Lewis after he failed to heed warnings to run away.

Further down the road Mr Smith stopped and turned to see his friend on the floor and shouted for the gang to stop at which point one retreated and began to run at him, the court was told.

The jury heard how Rikki Johnson and Sercan Calik and two others who cannot be named for legal reasons were four of the five involved in the attack.

Prosecuting, Tim Mousley QC said: "Lewis, by that stage, was on the ground and surrounded by the five men. Craig Smith could see that Lewis Singleton was being kicked.

"He shouted at the men to leave his friend alone. One of the five backed off. He was running at Craig Smith.

"Moments later Craig Smith saw Lewis Singleton come running past him and he shouted at him: I've been stabbed'.

"The attackers were shouting to each other to get back in the car."

Mr Mousley added: "Lewis Singleton collapsed to the ground in the middle of the road in Condor Close. He was holding his stomach. He was wrapping his arms around himself and saying my belly hurts'.

The jury heard how Mr Smith got to his house and called 999 before returning to be with Lewis and wait for the emergency services to arrive.

The gang had followed, stopping near to where Lewis lay in the road, and could be seen driving off as Mr Smith returned to the scene, the court was told.

At 2.15am police and paramedics arrived and found Lewis on the ground where he was treated and then put in an ambulance. As he was rushed to Southampton General Hospital he stopped breathing.

Lewis died at hospital.

The court heard how two witnesses had been walking along John's Road towards Obelisk Road and saw the gang drive past in a silver car. They took particular notice when the car sped the wrong way down a stretch of the road, stopping further down, opposite a post box.

Speaking about Johnson's role in the attack, Mr Mousley said: "He was prepared to use a knife and stab repeatedly and indiscriminately."

Mr Mousley told the court that the knife Johnson used may not have been the only knife in the attack.

The court was told that the four defendants and a fifth man had all been out in Southampton earlier that night. Johnson and Calik had been in the city centre and filmed on CCTV outside KFC in Above Bar at 12.50am - at the same time the two youth defendants were probably making their way to the city centre.

Lewis and Mr Smith had spent the evening in the Woolston area attending a party at the Grove Tavern pub in Swift Road. They had also tried to get into a party at a friend's house in Laurel Close but failed.

At one point late in the evening the 16 and 17-year-old defendants, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been on the Itchen Bridge at the same time as Lewis and Mr Smith.

The court heard how Mr Smith was accused by one of the defendants of being a racist.

Speaking about the possible reason behind the attack, Mr Mousley said: "They were looking perhaps not for Lewis Singleton but in fact for Craig Smith. It seems that he was the real target for them that night and that Lewis Singleton was attacked by them simply because he was his friend."

Mr Mousley said: "All four were involved as a gang. They had strength in numbers so that the two people they came across would stand no chance of getting away unless they could run."

Johnson, 19, of Honeysuckle Road, Bassett, Calik, 19, of Burgess Road, Bassett and two youths aged 16 and 17 all deny murder and a second charge of violent disorder. A fifth member of the gang was never charged.

Proceeding