A father-of-one was fatally stabbed through the heart by a man he had beaten in a game of pool, a jury has heard.

Prosecutor Simon Bourne-Arton QC alleged that 29-year-old Jason Lyons had been in "a difficult mood'' when he went into The Tempest pub in Holme Wood last November and squared up to the landlord's son in a row over a beer glass.

The two men were separated by 41-year-old Gary Elwood before that argument could develop into anything else and he then played a game of pool with Lyons.

Tempest regulars Alan Norm-ington and Keith Waterhouse said Lyons, whom they did not know, started pestering people to play pool with him.

Mr Normington described how Mr Elwood agreed to play as a way of pacifying Lyons, but the game was a "farce'' with Lyons knocking balls all over the place.

He said his friend wasn't really bothered about the game and Lyons was playing erratic pool.

Mr Bourne-Arton told Brad-ford Crown Court yesterday that Mr Elwood won the game, but there may have been something in the manner of his victory which Lyons "didn't take easily.''

"It's quite clear that Mr Lyons objected to something that happened in the public house because he left,'' he said.

"He went the short distance back to his home and he certainly there collected his dog, which hadn't been with him when he had been drinking in the pub, and in all probability he collected a knife or a sharp-bladed instrument."

Mr Bourne-Arton described how Lyons was seen waiting outside the pub before following Mr Elwood and two friends when they left.

He conceded that Mr Elwood may have punched Lyons during their first confrontation, but he alleged that in a second one Lyons stabbed him through the heart.

"One blow with a sharp, pointed instrument, either a knife or something sharp, straight through the heart - and as a result of that he died,'' said Mr Bourne-Arton.

He told the jury that in the Crown's view there could be no question of Lyons acting in reasonable self-defence.

A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Elwood had drunk the equivalent of three times the legal drink-drive limit and when Lyons was arrested and questioned about the stabbing he admitted taking methadone - a heroin substitute - and another drug on top of drinking alcohol.

"He said he had no recollection of the events of the previous evening other than being in the pub,'' said Mr Bourne-Arton.

Lyons, of Englefield Crescent, Holme Wood, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and his trial is expected to last more than a week.