London man's stab death following fight was 'unnecessary'
A man was stabbed to death seconds after he threw the first punch in a "wholly unnecessary" act of street violence, a court has heard.
Alex Scott, 26, was attacked in an alleyway, in south-east London, in August last year, after a row outside an off-licence, the Old Bailey heard.
Kai Steele, 18, from Charlton, is accused of stabbing Mr Scott twice during a fight between several people.
Both Mr Steele and Dillon Beckford, 18, of Lee High Road, deny murder.
Opening the case, prosecutor Simon Denison QC, said: "His [Alex Scott's] death was as sudden as it was violent and wholly unnecessary.
"Another life taken away in an instant by the use of a knife that was taken onto the street for no reason."
He told jurors that at 21:30 BST on 10 August, Mr Scott was outside an off-licence in Eltham Road, with a group of friends.
All were heavy drinkers and had spent the evening drinking and gambling at a nearby bookmakers.
Mr Denison said the defendants, who were 17 at the time of the attack, were good friends and did not know the victim previously.
He said "words were needlessly exchanged" between the boys, the victim and his friends which led to a fight in a nearby alleyway.
"Alex Scott played his part by being unnecessarily confrontational and he appears to have thrown the first punch but there was absolutely no need or justification for what happened next.
"Kai Steele took out a knife that he had in his jacket and he lunged at Alex Scott twice. He stabbed him twice in the left side of his chest.
"Either blow could have killed him. One penetrated the aorta and the other penetrated his heart. Twenty or so seconds after he threw the first punch, Alex Scott collapsed on the pavement where he died."
The trial continues.