A SUSPECT accused of murdering a father for his Gucci bag was told his "hero" account of going to the alleged victim’s aid was “fantasy”.

Lewis Aquilina has claimed he tried to stop co-defendant Joseph Jeremy from the supposed stabbing of Newport father Ryan O’Connor.

The pair are on trial accused of killing the 26-year-old in the Alway area of the city last summer.

Jeremy chased Mr O’Connor armed with a knife and attacked him after he slipped and fell on the Aberthaw Road roundabout, according to Aquilina.

Five Cardiff men, Aquilina, 20, of Canton Court, Riverside; Jeremy, 18, of no fixed abode; Kyle Raisis, 18, of Bartley Wilson Way, Canton; Ethan Strickland, 19, of Clos Briallen, Caerau, and Elliott Fiteni, 19, of no fixed abode, deny the murder, manslaughter and robbery of the father-of-one.

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During his evidence-in-chief last week, Aquilina said in his defence that it was Jeremy who had stabbed Mr O’Connor in a solo attack.

He pointed the finger of blame at the teenager and claimed he was  “wild and out of control” on the evening of Thursday, June 10, 2021.

Aquilina said he had kicked out at Jeremy.

Michael Brady QC, prosecuting, accused Aquilina that his account of going to Mr O’Connor’s aid was just make-believe.

He told him: “It’s not the truth Mr Aquilina, it’s a fiction, a fantasy in your mind.”

Aquilina replies: “It’s the truth and nothing but the truth.”

Jurors heard an allegation Aquilina has “smacked his girlfriend in the mouth" and were shown a video of him following a youth and hitting him after calling his a “snitch”.

Mr Brady put it to Aquilina: “Do you think your cowardly strikes of your girlfriend’s face is characteristic of you trying to save Ryan O’Connor?

“Do you think pursuing a boy down the street and attacking him is consistent?”

The defendant replied: “I am a car thief but not a murderer.”

Mr Brady asked him: “Are you pretending to be a hero?”

Aquilina replied: “I was just trying to do the right thing.”

The prosecution claim Mr O’Connor was murdered when some of the defendants wearing masks attacked him when armed with a machete and a knife.

The alleged victim died of multiple stab wounds.

It has been put to the jury the Cardiff men drove from their home city to Newport that evening in a stolen Ford Fiesta with the express purpose of committing crime.

The prosecution allege Mr O’Connor was chosen at random simply because he was spotted wearing a Gucci man bag.

The trial at Newport Crown Court will resume on Monday.