Conflicting accounts emerged in court Thursday during the trial of two defendants charged in connection with a 2021 fatal stabbing, with arguments centring on a disputed drug deal, a missing knife, and claims of self-defence.

During the ongoing trial concerning a fatal 2021 stabbing in Bonnevoie, the two defendants presented their accounts in court on Thursday.

The proceedings revealed a case that both the prosecution and the court view as a senseless tragedy, stemming from a drug deal and a series of poor decisions among youths.

The main defendant, charged with manslaughter, stated he was reluctant to attend the meeting where the attack occurred, preferring to study for an exam. He claimed his friend, who was arranging to sell two bags of cannabis to the future victim, persuaded him by offering to "save [him] a joint."

He admitted to bringing a kitchen knife to the encounter but insisted his intention was self-defence in what he perceived as an unsafe neighbourhood, not to injure anyone. "That," the presiding judge interjected, "was a shit idea." She noted that had the altercation involved only fists, they would not be standing trial for a death.

The defendant claimed he only drew the knife after the victim approached him and punched him in the face, despite being in a headlock from the co-defendant. "I panicked, I didn't see anything," he testified. "It all happened so fast, I didn't want it to happen." He asserted that he made a single, panicked swing with the knife – a claim the judge questioned due to the significant force of the fatal stab wound.

For his part, the co-defendant alleged that the victim had orchestrated the plan to scare the two friends and steal the drugs. The court heard that the groups had initially clashed on the chat app OmeTV, where an argument began because the co-defendant refused to show his face. The victim and other friends followed this argument via a connected PlayStation.

"He insisted," the co-defendant stated, explaining his own presence at the scene, "I didn't want to go, but he insisted." The drug deal was arranged by the victim, who also likely provided the truncheon used in the subsequent fight.

The presiding judge suggested that the victim and his friends may have had a history of taking drugs from others without payment, stating, "But this time it went wrong." The co-defendant denied this allegation.

A point of contention arose regarding whether the main defendant had also injured his co-defendant with the knife. Both the judge and the public prosecutor's office asserted that he had, a claim the main defendant denies. On the stand, the co-defendant did not seek to incriminate his associate on this count, reiterating his previous statement that he never saw the knife during the fight. He maintained that any injury he sustained was from the knife of the main defendant's then 15-year-old friend – a weapon police never recovered despite an extensive search of the Bonnevoie area.

While the two defendants' accounts of the fight's precise sequence and instigation were not fully aligned, the co-defendant conceded that both sides had acted wrongly and shared blame for the altercation.

The trial is scheduled to continue on Friday morning.