A south London dealer accused of knifing a rival was trying to slash his digestive system so he would be forced to use a colostomy bag, a court heard.

Abdul Deghayes, 22, died from massive blood loss following the assault in the Elm Grove area of Brighton on February 16 last year.

Deghayes was the third of his parents' four sons to be killed after two of his brothers died fighting in Syria.

Daniel Macleod, 37, of Gipsy Road, West Norwood, allegedly launched the "vicious" attack on Mr Deghayes after the victim and a friend had arranged to meet him to buy drugs.

At Macleod's trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, the jury heard that the exact motive for the killing may never been known.

Also on trial is 56-year-old Stephen Burns, from Brighton, who is accused of assisting an offender by allegedly helping Macleod flee the scene and hide evidence.

The jury heard that Mr Deghayes and his friend Colby Broderick had arranged to meet Macleod to buy cocaine outside of a block of flats.

But when the victim left his car to conduct the deal, Macleod stabbed him eight times - including several major stab wounds to his legs and buttocks.

Although he managed to return to Mr Broderick's car, Mr Deghayes lost consciousness when they were just a few streets away from the attack and died in hospital at 6am the next day.

Prosecutor Adam Feest QC told the court a post-mortem examination revealed the victim had been stabbed eight times - once to the back, five in the left leg, once in the right leg and one to the left hand.

The stab wound to the hand was so deep the knife had gone all the way through.

Mr Feest said injuries to the legs and buttocks were sometimes inflicted with the intention of maiming and humiliating victims because they could result in the need for a catheter or colostomy bag.

He said such attacks were sometimes referred to as "'bagging' or the 'Turkish revenge' among members of the drug-dealing, knife-wielding community".

Macleod denies murder, claiming he was acting in self-defence.

The prosecutor said: "If you are defending yourself, why do you need to stab somebody in the back?"

The jury heard that both defendants have previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs, and that almost £24,000 in cash was founded at an address connected with MacLeod.

Mr Feest said: "The Crowns case is that at 9.25 on that Saturday evening, Abdul Deghayes suffered these serious and significant injuries from which he never recovered and, due to their nature, was never likely to have recovered."

He said all the evidence suggested Macleod had carried out "the violent and sustained attack".

"Whether he intended to kill Mr Deghayes or just to maim him, or whether it was a revenge attack linked to drug dealing we will never know," he said.

"It is the Crown's case that Daniel Macleod acted with murderous intent during his attack upon Abdul Deghayes, and accordingly is responsible for not just his death but his murder."

Two of Mr Deghayes' teenage brothers, including his twin, died fighting in Syria.

Abdullah was killed in 2016 aged 18 while their brother Jaffar, 17, was killed in 2014 while trying to overthrow Bashar Assad's government. They are survived by fourth brother, Amer, a former finance student, who also travelled to Syria.

The hearing continues.