THE jury has been sent out in the trial of Dudley teenager Kobe Murray who is accused of murdering footballer Ryan Passey in Chicago's in Stourbridge.

High Court judge, the Honourable Mr Justice Goose, summarised the case for the ten-man two-woman jury at Birmingham Crown Court following a seven-day trial.

Murray, of The Broadway, Dudley, has denied murdering 24-year-old Mr Passey, of Quarry Bank, who suffered a fatal stab wound to the chest in the crowded town centre bar in the early hours of August 6 last year.

He told the court he felt the bone as the knife he was holding pierced self employed window cleaner Mr Passey's chest but he claims the knife was not his and that he had grabbed it from a friend Bradley Hackett amid a scuffle between two groups of lads in the Ryemarket bar.

Phil Bradley QC, prosecuting, has said Murray's use of the knife was wholly unreasonable and he obviously intended to cause really serious harm.

He said the dispute that occurred between two groups was no more than pushing and shoving and that no one other than Murray had a knife or used serious violence that night.

James House QC, defending, has said Murray, a trainee plasterer, did not take the knife into the club and having taken it from Mr Hackett he pushed out instinctively in the heat of the moment to defend himself.

The court was told he later admitted to friends and his father Errol that he had stabbed someone and that his mobile phone and clothes had been disposed of but when questioned by police he replied no comment to all questions - instead presenting a prepared statement suggesting he could not recollect the exact circumstances of what happened as he had been "attacked" and was "intoxicated".

Mr Bradley said the statement was "misleading" but Murray said he'd made the statement on the advice of his solicitor.

Mr Justice Goose told the jury if they are unable to conclude Mr Passey's death was murder they may consider a verdict of manslaughter.