A Southampton man was stabbed to death after five masked men with a knife and gun burst into the wrong flat, a court heard.
In a 999 call played out to jurors, Mark Noke begged for help after being threatened and stabbed in his own home.
“Please come quick. I am passing out. I can hardly breathe,” he said.
Moments later, he collapsed on his kitchen floor.
As his murder trial got underway yesterday, Winchester Crown Court heard a gang turned up at his home in Warburton Road, Thornhill by mistake looking for cash, drugs and jewellery.
They asked Mr Noke about a man and a woman before plunging a knife into his chest, puncturing his lung.
Despite emergency services forcing entry into the flat, Mr Noke died before he could be taken to hospital.
Prosecutor Adam Vaitilingam KC said: “Those men had gone to that flat to commit a robbery.
“They were expecting to find drugs, cash and jewellery, but they had by mistake gone to the wrong flat.”
READ MORE: Live updates as Thornhill murder trial begins
Mr Vaitilingam told jurors the group had intended to break into a flat close to Mr Noke's home after being tipped off about valuables inside.
But having taken a “wrong turning at the top of the stairs”, they came across Mr Noke who was alone.
Four Southampton men - Keiran Claffey, 29, of Keynsham Road; Aaron Morgan, 32, of Bursledon Road; Bradley O'Dell, 22, of West Park Road; Justin Roach, 40, of Chapel Road - and Leighton Tabone, 24, of no fixed abode are accused of murder and manslaughter.
Morgan, O’Dell, Roach and Tabone are also accused of conspiracy to rob.
Claffey has already pleaded guilty to this charge.
The prosecutor said: “There was evidence of somebody bleeding in the hallway and then in the kitchen, which is where Mark Noke was when the police came.
"He was collapsed on the floor when the police arrived.
"He couldn't tell anybody who had attacked him and nor could he tell them why they attacked him.
"It was not a straightforward police investigation, there was no obvious motive for an attack on Mark Noke."
CCTV footage shown in court showed five men leaving the block of flats after the stabbing at around 1am on February 25.
The jury heard how police found Tabone and Claffey’s DNA on the front door.
Having got into a taxi, Tabone was also heard saying on the phone 'Delete all the messages'.
Mr Vaitilingam added: "It isn't the prosecution's case that any of these defendants planned to kill Mark Noke or in fact anybody.
"Whichever of these defendants stabbed and killed Mark Noke, they intended at least to cause him serious harm.
"None of these defendants have admitted to being the person who stabbed or killed Mark Noke. They all refused to do so.
"If a group of men take part together in an offence such as a robbery and it results in the death of the victim then they can all be guilty of murder."
The trial continues.
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