Three friends chased down a defenceless man and stabbed him to death in broad daylight just yards from Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, a court heard on Monday.

Ryan Gray, 24, of Finsbury Park, was beaten with a crutch, kicked and knifed seven times in broad daylight in Holloway on June 4 last year.

The brutal assault, in Horsell Road, N5, was captured on CCTV and witnessed by horrified passers-by – who bravely intervened to try and save Mr Gray.

He was taken to hospital where he died four days later from his injuries.

Delton Campbell-Brown, 19, Taylor Fernandes-Nelson, 18, and Stephen Roberts, 22, are all on trial for murder at the Old Bailey.

It is claimed that Fernandes-Nelson, of Vivian Comma Close, Finsbury Park, knifed the victim in his back and chest, while Campbell-Brown, of Cazenove Road, Stoke Newington, kicked Mr Gray repeatedly as he lay on the ground. Roberts, of Highbury New Park, Highbury, who was on crutches, is accused of using the support to join in the attack on Mr Gray.

Prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC described the alleged assault as “fast, brutal and deliberate”.

He said Mr Gray had no chance of defending himself against three attackers, who chased him from Holloway Road into nearby Drayton Park.

“Ryan Gray was attacked in a variety of ways, each of these three acting together with differing weapons and feet,” he said.

The alleged killers ‘must have known’ Mr Gray but the motive for the attack is unknown, the court was told.

Mr Badenoch added: “Fernandes-Nelson wielded the knife and stabbed it repeatedly, deliberately and successfully into his target, the upper body of Ryan Gray.

“Campbell-Brown and Roberts played their part, participating in this savage attack, further rendering Ryan Gray defenceless to the knifing, as Campbell-Brown aimed a series of kicks and Roberts struck him repeatedly with a crutch.”

The trial continues.