THE friend of fatal stab victim Jordan Taylor has been accused of telling ‘lie after lie’ about his account on the night the 25-year-old died in Trowbridge, a murder trial heard today.

At Bristol Crown Court, the jury saw three recorded interviews Neil Vaughan, 24, had with the police on March 12, 14 and 16, two 999 calls and then through a live video link on Thursday.

Defence Sally Howes QC told the court, at the murder trial with the accused Hayden Maslen, that in his interviews with the police, Mr Vaughan had given inconsistent evidence.

She said how initially Mr Vaughan told police he had seen Maslen pull out the knife on Mr Taylor by looking through his passenger wing mirror before going to break up the fight in Prospect Place but in court he said he saw it through his windscreen.

Howes pointed out that he had first told the emergency services that he alone had been stabbed but in later evidence he said he saw his friend ‘double over’ when he was stabbed in the stomach.

Finally when Mr Vaughan was treated in the ambulance outside Trowbridge Hospital not long after 1.30am, he told paramedics on two occasions that Maslen attacked the pair of them as they were getting into the car.

“You told lie after lie about this incident,” said Ms Howes. “The inconsistencies have been pointed out to you and may I make it clear the reason why there are inconsistencies is because you have changed your story to try and justify your involvement in this assault.

“In fact it was you and Jordan who assaulted Mr Maslen. He was walking along, minding his own business in a lawful manner, and you both set upon him.”

Howes added that Mr Vaughan, who admitted that his friend had assaulted the defendant, was well aware of what he was saying to paramedics as camera footage in the ambulance recorded him saying, ‘Is that a camera? I don’t want to see that on’.”

Under cross-examination, Mr Vaughan kept repeating that his evidence was inconsistent because he was in ‘such a mess’ for the first interview.

“I was in such a state of shock that I cannot remember everything I said. I had to wait for three hours and I had not slept at all,” he said.

The jury also heard the two 999 calls, the latter of which involved Mr Vaughan desperately carrying out CPR to revive his friend - reducing much of the public gallery to tears.

The trial will resume on Monday.