A Castletown man accused of murder told police there was a ‘coming together’ between him and the victim after he asked him to leave his house.
Ian Anderson, who is 46, has denied murdering Neil Roberts at the Andersons’ then home in Queen Street in December 2013.
The jury has been read transcripts of police interviews with the defendant, conducted in the days immediately after Mr Roberts’ death.
During interview Mr Anderson says he asked Mr Roberts to leave his house. But he said Mr Roberts had punched him in the face and he had ended up pushing Mr Roberts down on to the sofa, holding him by the throat. He said Mr Roberts attacked him in his house three times.
The jury was told Mr Roberts called Mrs Anderson’s telephone on the evening before he was found dead at the couple’s house. He told them he had crashed his car and needed a lift. But Mr Anderson drove to meet Mr Roberts because his wife had been drinking. The pair stopped for a drink at the Bay Hotel in Port Erin then returned to the couple’s house in Queen Street.
The case continues and the defence is expected to open later this week.