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A drug dealer accused of murdering Deneiko Ferguson by stabbing him to death on a Leeds street has told a court that he just wanted to scare him.

Giving evidence at Leeds Crown Court today, Alga Lutondo admitted he just wanted to warn Mr Ferguson who had allegedly “taxed” a dealer’s house in Harehills earlier that night by kicking in the door and demanding their stash of drugs.

Answering questions from his barrister Bernard Tetlow KC on Thursday (November 23) Lutondo said he was “upset” that Mr Ferguson had targeted one of his dealer’s homes, and said he wanted “someone with authority” to threaten him and stop him doing it again, so took his co-defendant Halgon Randon with him. He says that it was Randon who stabbed Mr Ferguson to death.

Denying murder, Lutondo said: “It was not my intention to get him killed. He did not deserve to die.”

Crime investigators working at the scene on Compton Street where Daneiko Ferguson (pictured) was stabbed to death. (pic by WYP / National World)

The jury previously heard that Lutondo and Randon had been riding bicycles around the area looking for Mr Ferguson in the early hours of February 15. Earlier that night, Maria Thomas – the dealer selling on behalf of Lutondo – phoned him to say that Mr Ferguson had been to her home on Cowper Terrace, Harehills, demanding she hand over her drugs.

They eventually found 27-year-old Mr Ferguson on Compton Street where he was stabbed five times to the head, torso, pelvis and the groin – the latter cutting his femoral artery and causing “catastrophic bleeding” that led to his death. He was later found by a taxi driver at around 3am but he could not be saved.

Lutondo was eventually arrested at Heathrow three days later trying to flee to the Congo, his country of origin. He told the court he fled Leeds because he knew he would be implicated in the murder. He first got the train to Birmingham to stay with friends, who advised him to leave the country.

Lutondo, 32, formerly of Berkeley Crescent, Harehills, and 42-year-old Randon, of Brown Hill Terrace, Harehills, were later charged with murder. They both also deny a charge with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm (GBH), along with the third defendant, 34-year-old Maria Thomas, now of Manor Road, Horsforth.

The trial continues.

Dealer who went looking for murdered Danieko Ferguson in Harehills 'just wanted to scare him', court told