A man who received a life-threatening stab wound at a Halloween party in Cambourne has been telling Cambridge Crown Court about the moments leading up to the incident which came “out of the blue.”

The court has already heard that Daniel Berryman, aged 22, suffered two significant wounds, one to an artery in the chest and a second, which pierced the fluid around the heart.

He suffered huge blood loss and a collapsed lung, and later underwent a blood transfusion. He was taken to the accident and emergency department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, initially, but when his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to Papworth Hospital where he underwent major surgery.

A police interview, recorded on a body camera in the A & E department at Addenbrooke’s at 4.15am on October 28, was played to the jury. At this point, Mr Berryman was not aware that his friend Chris West had died.

During the interview, Mr Berryman told police officers he did not recognise the man who approached him at the pool table. He said the pool game had finished and he went to shake hands with him.

“I went to shake his hand and the next thing you know, I was lifting up my shirt and thinking ‘What’s going on’?”

He continued: “Then I’m getting dragged around the other side and that’s when the ambulance turned up.”

He was asked by officers what the man looked like and he replied: “To be honest with you I’ve never seen this guy in my life. I saw two guys at the pool table for the first time at about 11pm.”

Asked about his injury and whether he saw the knife, he said: “No, I literally remember him going like that (swung his arm out) and then me going ‘What’s gone on here?’ It’s like he just pulled it out of the blue and I imagine I tried to stop it.”

He told the officers he remembered bleeding heavily and added: ”Well anyone carrying a knife is ridiculous.”

Under cross examination, Mr Berryman was asked if he had seen a man wearing a “Hurricane Higgins” style pool outfit with a waistcoat around the pool table that night and he told Isabella Forshall, QC, that he hadn’t. Mrs Forshall showed the court a mobile phone image of the man, but Mr Berryman said he had not noticed the man in the pub that night.

Kai Nazir, 20, of The Crescent, in St Neots, is charged with the murder of Mr West and faces charges of attempted murder and an alternative charge of grievous bodily harm with intent, in relation to Mr Berryman and a fourth charge of carrying a bladed article, all of which he denies. Mr West was stabbed 12 times and died outside the Monkfield Arms.

The case continues.