MEDICS have described the desperate efforts they went to to save the life of a man stabbed by his identical twin, a court heard.

Paramedics raced to a property on Langdown Road, Hythe, on New Year's Eve after Christopher Cerqua was stabbed with a kitchen knife by his brother Robert following an argument, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Mark Ainsworth-Smith, a consultant in pre-hospital care at South Central Ambulance, said he arrived after police and the first responding paramedics arrived at the home.

He told the court how Christopher was on the floor and was in an "extremely serious" condition.

He said: "He was extremely pale and that's often a sign of severe blood loss.

"I could see the patient was breathing fast. Being pale and breathing fast are big alarm bells to me.

"He was having periods of lucidity where he was slightly aware of what was going on."

Mr Ainsworth-Smith said medics use a consciousness rating system called the Glasgow Coma Score, which ranks responsiveness from 15 to 3.

He said Christopher had an initial rating of 14 out of 15, with three being dead.

He said: "He was slightly confused but other than that he was alert and aware of his surroundings."

But he told the court his condition deteriorated rapidly.

Mr Ainsworth-Smith said Christopher was treated on in the ambulance on the way to hospital but he had to issue a pre-alert followed by a code red to warn staff in the resuscitation unit of what to expect on arrival.

The court heard how Christopher had already gone into cardiac arrest as he arrived at Southampton General Hospital.

He was worked on by the resuscitation team led by Dr Adel Aziz, a specialist in emergency medicine at the hospital.

Dr Aziz told the court how Christopher's chest was cut open to gain access to his heart.

He said: "It involves a cut from the side of the chest and happens with two individuals, one on each side.

"The whole of the chest is separated. It lifts up the top half and you are able to visualise the heart and lungs."

He said the heart and lungs looked normal but the heart showed no activity, which indicated the heart had stopped.

Christopher was given a cardiac massage and an injection of adrenaline in the ventricle of the heart, according to Dr Aziz.

He said Christopher was worked on for around half an hour before he was pronounced dead.

Robert Cerqua, of Langdown Road, Hythe, denies murder.

The trial continues.