A 16-year-old accused of murdering Andrew Jaipaul rode away from the scene covered with blood, a court heard.

The defendant, who is now 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons, denies killing the 21-year-old who was stabbed 25 times with kitchen knives and broken glass in a brutal murder on the Andover Estate, in Holloway, in June 2011.

Mr Jaipual was on his way home from work when he was set upon by a mob of around 20 youths in what the prosecution say was a revenge attack by Archway’s Busy Block gang – a senior member of which was stabbed in the buttocks earlier the same day.

The teen, who lives in Islington, told the court he had been drinking in New Orleans Walk, Hornsey Rise, and had consumed too much alcohol to ride his bike home.

He decided to get a cab home and was walking with a group of people when some kind of “confrontation” occurred on Moray Road, Finsbury Park – just north of the Andover Estate – causing members of the group to panic and run away, the court heard.

The defendant said one of the group then brought his bike to him and he rode home.

But in a statement read out in court earlier, one witness said he heard someone shout: “get the bike here, we need to get [defendant’s name] out of here, he’s got blood on him.”

Zoe Johnson QC, prosecuting, said: “I am going to suggest that you went in the Andover Estate and the reason why you had blood on your clothes was because you got very close indeed to the murder of Andrew Jaipaul, and that when you spoke about a confrontation in your defence what in fact you were talking about was what happened on the estate.”

The defendant replied: “No ma’am.”

Earlier the defendant denied being part of Busy Block or knowing people who were members of the gang, but the jury was told that in 2012 he received a letter which included the phrase “Busy Block f**k ‘Dover”.

Miss Johnson said: “Why was it when you wrote back you finished the letter with ‘BB free da team’?”

He replied: “I just wrote that for the people around me, people who was in custody at the time.”

Miss Johnson said: “People in Busy Block?”

He said: “Not that I know of.”

McInerney; Allan Kalema, of Cardinals Way, Archway; Warren Brooks, of Ritchie Street, Islington; Jojo Mafwa, of St Margaret’s Avenue, Tottenham; Tirrell Ball-Thomas, of Colthurst Crescent, Finsbury Park; a 17-year-old from Islington and a 15-year-old from Upper Holloway all deny murder, conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and violent disorder.

Orvill Sterling, of Enfield, was acquitted after the crown said he had no case to answer.

The trial continues.