A GAS fitter accused of murdering a taxi driver by running him over with his cab cannot remember what happened, a court heard.

Luke Aujila has given his account of the events leading up to the death of Gian Chand Bajar in Gravesend on May 23 last year.

Aujila told Maidstone Crown Court he accepted he was guilty of Mr Bajar's manslaughter but he has pleaded not guilty to murder.

The 21-year-old had been a passenger in Mr Bajar's cab. Mr Bajar was attacked and then run over with his own taxi.

Aujila said he had been drinking heavily before the incident and could not remember what happened. He did not even remember getting into the taxi.

When questioned about why Mr Bajar had taken him to Benedict Road in Gravesend rather than Dorchester Road, where he was living at the time, he said he did not know.

Asked why he attacked Mr Bajar, he alleged the 71-year-old grabbed him and that he reacted in order to get him off.

He accepted he ran over the taxi driver and drove off in the car before setting fire to it in Dorchester Road, to cover his tracks.

There had been blood on his clothes and he said he had known that it was not his and had "half-known" whose it was.

He also told the court how he panicked when the police started to investigate and how he tried to get rid of other evidence.

He admitted telling lies to police when arrested.

Referring to the statement he gave police he said: "I gave a prepared statement that wasn't true.

"I didn't want to be involved in what happened.

"I thought if I gave that statement, it would go away."

The body of Mr Bajar, who was a well-known figure in Gravesend's Sikh community, was left battered and broken after the incident.

Earlier a pathologist told the court Mr Bajar suffered 39 injuries in all, which included a broken hip, broken thigh and broken ribs.

Aujila, of no fixed address, has claimed that what happened was a "tragic accident."

The trial continues.