A 25-YEAR-OLD “unwitting stranger” was stabbed to death after an “angry and frustrated” man attacked him following a night out in Greenwich, the Old Bailey has heard.

Today prosecutors opened their case at the trial of 28-year-old Michael Bowden, who is charged with murdering Paul Martin.

Mr Martin, 25, from Blackheath, went into cardiac arrest after being stabbed close to St Alfege Church in Greenwich Church Street during the early hours of March 29 last year.

Prosecution lawyer Zoe Johnson told jurors the victim was stabbed five times in the neck, back and chest in an “unprovoked” attack following a night out drinking with his girlfriend and friends.

She said: “The defendant was unable to control his anger on the night he stabbed Paul Martin.

“He was an angry and frustrated man, and that night he let out that anger and rage in a sudden and violent attack on an unwitting stranger.”

The court heard Bowden was seen by Mr Martin's friends using a nearby telephone box before slamming the door shut on his way out.

Bowden allegedly then shouted “What are you looking at?” before approaching Mr Martin and his friends.

A tussle then ensued between Bowden and Mr Martin before the defendant fled the scene, the court heard.

Ms Johnson continued: “The group turned to Paul Martin and then they realised he was bleeding.

“Blood was coming from his nose and mouth, and he was spitting a large amount of blood.

“It was then they noticed he had a large hole in his neck and blood was pouring out of it.”

A friend called 999 from the same phone box Bowden had used, before a London Ambulance Service crew arrived along with an emergency helicopter.

Paramedics treated the father of two at the scene and rushed him to King's College Hospital in Denmark Hill, where he died several hours later.

Police examined the telephone box and traced the number Bowden had dialled back to his girlfriend's house in Lewisham.

Officers arrested him at her address the following day.

Bowden, of Marden Square, Bermondsey, denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The trial continues.