A MAN who killed two people with a knife lied to police because he feared he wouldn't be believed, a murder trial heard.

Rashane Douglas, 19, of Jade Place, in Huddersfield, said he initially told police he saw one of the men he would stab moments later, with a knife because he felt they would not believe his story, a court heard.

The 19-year-old has admitted inflicting stab wounds to and killing Joshua Clark, 21, and Haidar Shah, 19, outside Maggie’s nightclub, in Commercial Street, Halifax at around 3.45am on October 1 last year.

He also admitted responsibility for a slash wound on Brandon Coope, 19, from Bradford, who survived his injury.

But Douglas has denied two counts of murder and one of attempted murder and claims he was acting in self-defence as the three men surrounded and “brutally assaulted” him, the court has heard.

The defendant continued to be cross-examined by prosecution lawyer Mark McKone KC at Bradford Crown Court (BCC) in the seventh day of the trial today.

Mr McKone honed in on a prepared statement provided before Douglas’s third police interview on October 3, 2023.

This gave Douglas’s account that he had seen a knife on one of the men and that his main priority was disarming them.

He has since given evidence in court to say he “thought” one of them had a knife because of the movements that person made and agreed his statement said he had actually seen one.

Douglas agreed it implied one of the three injured men brought the knife to the scene and that they had been stabbed with their own blade but did not accept he was blaming the group for the stabbings.

The court heard he lied because he was “scared and terrified” and “didn’t think I would be believed”.

Douglas said: “I didn't want to be involved with any trouble and knew I shouldn't have had a knife on me.”

Mr McKone asked Douglas why he felt police would not believe him.

The defendant said: “Because I'm a young black man and people of my skin colour like me don't get believed in the stories they tell and I didn't want anything bad to happen to me.”

Douglas agreed he “genuinely” thought someone had a knife in the moment because of “the way they approached” him, under re-examination from his defence lawyer Naeem Mian KC.

He said he was not angry that a girl who had asked him and Mr Shah to come to the club, Kira Hamilton, had “snubbed” him, having seen Mr Shah had his arm round her inside the venue before going over.

Douglas also said in cross-examination that he did not just run away after Mr Coope threw a missed punch and one from Mr Shah connected because he had “a taxi booked and had no money” and there was “only one way I could get home”.

He denied that he wanted revenge when retaliating to Mr Coope with his own punch, would have felt soft if he ran off, or was standing his ground.

The court heard Douglas agreed he could have still escaped when he first moved across the road away from the men by running to the left past Victoria Theatre.

He did not do this because he could have been chased and “maybe even fallen”, before telling the court he had asthma so could have run out of breath and been caught, the court heard.

Douglas said: “I was fearing for my life.”

He added: “I was just super scared, there was three of them, I just don't know if one of them would catch up.”

Yaseen Iqbal, 18, of Hall Bower, Huddersfield, is also on trial accused of assisting an offender.

It is claimed he helped Douglas avoid arrest by fleeing the scene with him in a taxi, letting him stay at his house that night, and helping him dispose of the clothing he was wearing at the time.

But the court heard Iqbal said he only found out Douglas had stabbed people just before he told him to hand himself into the police.

Iqbal declined to give evidence in court today.

Douglas has admitted to carrying a knife on October 1, 2023 but has pleaded not guilty to a count of wounding with intent in relation to Mr Coope.

The trial continues.