A MAN accused of murder ‘gave dirty looks’ in an incident prior to a teenage accountant’s death.

Joshua Harling, 19, from Headington, is alleged to have been stabbed on the night of July 22 last year.

He had got into his green VW Polo to drive away after a street fight – jurors at Oxford Crown Court previously heard – but crashed in Chinnor Road, Thame.

Prosecutors allege that Nathan Braim, 20, of Broadwaters Avenue, Thame, and Benjamin Eyles, 19, of Monks Hollow, Buckinghamshire, killed Mr Harling – which they both deny.

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Taking to the witness stand yesterday, Nathan Surman-Gascoyne, 19, said Mr Harling was ‘one of my good friends’, describing him as ‘funny, a good lad, and caring’.

He said when he heard about Mr Harling’s death, he ‘didn’t know what to with himself’.

After buying cannabis from someone in Elms Park, Thame, Mr Surman-Gascoyne described the last time he saw Mr Harling.

He said: “Nathan [Braim] was giving dirty looks to Josh.”

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The court heard that Mr Surman-Gascoyne had a court case brought against him for a robbery which took place on October 6, 2019.

He punched the victim in the face, fracturing the cheekbone.

Mr Surman-Gascoyne pleaded guilty to that robbery on July 23 of last year – the day after Mr Harling’s death.

He was sentenced for the offence on September 3 and handed a 16-month jail term, suspended for two years.

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Speaking about the offence yesterday, Mr Surman-Gascoyne said: “I was young, I wasn’t thinking and I learnt from my mistake.

“I feel terrible, I should never have done it.”

He added that his court case was what made him want to ‘knuckle down’ in life.

After a host of questions where he answered ‘I can’t remember’, it was said by the defence: “What you’ve done is to down Nathan Braim and you’re worried about what friends of Joshua Harling think of you.”

However, Mr Sermon-Gascoigne responded, saying of his memory: “It started off in school, I was in the bottom class and I forgot to do homework – my memory is terrible.”

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Raymond Ford, whose area of expertise is in telematics, a field which specialises in the transmission of computerised information, was next to take to the witness stand.

In the context of the case, Dr Ford was able to offer analysis of the movements of both Mr Harling’s VW Polo and a BMW 1 Series owned by Eyles.

Dr Ford said the BMW would be sending data on its position, speed and direction every five seconds, enabling him to plot where the car was at regular intervals.

After the cross-examination of Dr Ford, Judge Ian Pringle QC told the jury he hoped the prosecution case would finish by the end of this week.

The trial continues.