Norwich murder accused 'messed up' through military service in Northern Ireland
Elvis Vickers and Abdulkadar Chadli had been drinking together at Vickers' Mousehold Street flat in Norwich on November 1 last year.
Abdulkadar Chadli (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)
But police were called by Vickers after Mr Chadli, 48, was fatally stabbed.
Police at the scene of fatal stabbing (Image: Newsquest)
Vickers, also 48, has gone on trial accused of murdering Mr Chadli.
Abdulkadar Chadli (Image: Newsquest)
Giving evidence in his trial Vickers told defence barrister Simon Spence KC that he had been affected by the "trauma and torment of what I had to go through" while serving in the army.
He spent three-and-a-half years in the British Army, with tours of Northern Ireland in 1997 and 1998 which included the Omagh bombing that killed 29 people.
Vickers, who had been with the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment - before it was amalgamated with two other regiments in 2006 to form the Duke of Lancaster’s regiment - attended the aftermath of the bombing.
"I had to step over the devastation," Vickers told the Norwich Crown Court jury.
Norwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)
He described having to step over "charred" limbs and bodies when he was just 19 or 20.
Mr Spence said: "Had you ever seen anything like that before?"
Vickers replied: "No."
The barrister asked what effect it had on him.
Vickers said at the time he had just been doing his job but admitted it "affected me mentally" and left him "messed up".
He said he left the army aged 21 having been discharged.
Mr Spence asked if he got any support for the way he was feeling.
"No," said Vickers.
He turned to "drinking pretty much every day" and this continued after the defendant - who was born in Preston and is named Elvis Presley Vickers after the American singer - moved to East Anglia.
He said he was drinking heavily at the point of the killing and now knows he had a problem, although did not at the time.
He said his drinking was "pretty constant" and accepted it affected his personality.
He said he was a "loner" who had been affected by what he had experienced while serving in the army.
When asked about Mr Chadli, Vickers said they were friends.
Abdulkadar Chadli (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)
He had lived across from him in Mousehold Street for a few years and said Mr Chafli helped provide him with cheap tobacco he bought while he working offshore.
Mr Spence asked Vickers whether Mr Chadli was really a friend or just a means to get cheap tobacco.
"No, he was a true friend," said Vickers.
Vickers was asked whether "the colour of Mr Chadli's skin" was a problem for him, but he insisted "not at all".
The jury of six women and six men heard Vickers occasionally argued with Mr Chadli after getting drunk but insisted they would "just debate".
Mr Spence asked Vickers if he had previously made threats to kill Mr Chadli.
He said: "Not at all, no".
When asked about other things he had said in messages to his brother, including references to "putting on my body armour to go to the shops and kill them all" and "not letting these terrorists run my streets", Vickers told Mr Spence "it's just the way I talk, it's pretty stupid".
Vickers will resume giving evidence in his defence tomorrow, December 4.
The trial continues.
