Stabbed Potter Actor 'Had Been Protecting Brother'

A teenage actor who was stabbed to death had been trying to protect his younger brother, a court has herd.

Rob Knox, 18, who had a part in the forthcoming Harry Potter, was stabbed five times outside the Metro Bar, in Sidcup, south-east London, in May last year.

Karl Bishop, 21, of Beaver Lodge, Carlton Road, Sidcup, denies murder and five charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The jury heard Rob had been protecting his brother Jamie from Bishop who was "running amok".

Brian Altham QC, prosecuting, said of the 18-year-old: "Unfortunately, his courage and his sense of duty were to cost him his life."

The victim was stabbed by Bishop outside the bar in May last year, including a fatal wound to the chest, Mr Altham said.

The stabbing followed a row at the same venue the previous week after which Mr Bishop allegedly made a "chilling" prediction, the Old Bailey jury heard.

Mr Altman said: "He was heard to say, 'I'm going to come back next week and someone's going to die'."

Bishop denies the five charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to five other youths, claiming he was acting in self-defence.

At the time of the events Mr Knox had just finished filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and was looking forward to appearing in the next film.

Mr Altman said: "A few minutes after midnight on May 24 last year, Rob Knox was stabbed to death by this defendant, who was running amok outside the Metro Bar.

"At the time, Bishop was armed with two quite ordinary but two quite lethal knives which had come from his kitchen and with which he had quite deliberately armed himself."

He added: "Tragically, in the melee, Rob Knox lost his life. Rob was just one of a number of young people who, over the past year or so, have fallen victim to knife crime in London.

"He was particularly unfortunate because he fell victim to a young man who was not only an habitual knife carrier but also someone who would quite happily deploy and use knives as weapons, two in this case, to settle scores.

"That is precisely what happened here."

The trial continues.

(JM/BMcC)