An Asian man accused of stabbing his white neighbour to death after a long feud had previously threatened to kill him, a court was told yesterday.

Habib Khan had once tried to knock over Keith Brown and the Khan family had been filmed invading Mr Brown’s property and trying to attack him, it was alleged.

Julia Barker, mother of the dead man’s children, denied that her partner was prejudiced against Asians and said the Khans were to blame for the violent dispute between the families.

The feud, which began when Mr Khan, 50. built a grand house on a plot of land next door, culminated in the death of Mr Brown, 53, a father of seven, who was stabbed to death with an eight-inch kitchen knife in July. Mr Khan denies murder.

Giving evidence at Stafford Crown Court, Mrs Barker expressed resentment that her family were being portrayed as responsible for years of threats, abuse and violence towards their Asian neighbours. “It’s like we are the guilty ones,” she said.

She confirmed that Mr Brown had been a personal friend of Nick Giffin, leader of the far-right British National Party, who was a mourner at his funeral. She said: “It was the family who invited him because Keith knew him as a friend as well as who he was.” She agreed that Mr Brown had become interested in politics and that he and his eldest son, Ashley Barker, 20, had delivered leaflets for the BNP in Stoke-on-Trent.

Mr Khan’s barrister, Simon Drew, cross-examining Mrs Barker, said: “Keith was vile towards the entire Khan family whenever they came out. He was abusive, racially abusive, frequently. He didn’t like the house. He didn’t like the Khans. He didn’t like the fact they were Asian.

“He did everything he possibly could to be difficult and obstructive towards them. Quite prepared to resort to violence against them if the mood took him.”

Mrs Barker, who gave her evidence from behind a heavy curtain, said: “He had nothing against Asians. He spoke to Asians up the road.

“People forget when Ashley was threatened to be burnt and his body would never be found; Keith [was] threatened to be killed by Mr Khan. That’s what you seem to forget.” Mrs Barker said that the couple’s ten-year-old son, Conor, had a brick thrown at him last year. Mr Brown had told her that Mr Khan tried to knock him over. He had a video disc that showed the Khan family coming on to his property trying to attack him, she told the jury.

“I’ve seen Keith shouting,” she said. “I’m not disputing that fact. ‘Bastard’, yeah, but nothing like racism. There were arguments both ends.”

Mrs Barker described the afternoon when Mr Brown was stabbed. She said that she had struggled to keep her screaming children indoors as their father lay on the pavement and Ashley Barker tried to escape from the Khans by hiding under a car. Witnesses described seeing Mr Khan’s white clothing stained with Mr Brown’s blood from waist to foot.

Steven Oultram, a passer-by, said in a statement that a river of blood appeared to pour from Mr Brown as he lay face down. He also noticed Mr Barker wandering about in a daze with “two large holes in the back of his head that were bleeding”.

The jury has been told that Mr Barker was hit with bricks and a metal bar in an attack by two of Mr Khan’s sons.

Mr Khan and his son, Azir Habib Saddique, 24, deny wounding Mr Barker. Another son, Khazir Habib Saddique, has admitted wounding him.

The trial continues.

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