A PAINTING by Leonardo da Vinci and "bending it like Beckham" were two of the bizarre references used by a teenager as he denied stabbing his "cousin" Godwin Lawson in the heart, a court heard today.

Moise Avorgah, who prosecutors claim was behind the fatal knife wound, told jurors he had no reason to hurt Godwin, his distant relative, and his involvement in the fight had been one of self-defence.

He rejected CCTV evidence which shows footage of one of the group of four approaching 17-year-old Godwin, distinguished by his fur-lined hooded jacket, in the middle of the road.

Immediately after, the aspiring footballer appears to collapse in Amhurst Park where he died on March 27 last year.

Today marks what would have been Godwin's 18th birthday.

Avorgah, aged 20, of St Ann's Road, Tottenham, said he did not know who had inflicted the wound but denied he was the killer and that he had been "stressed" the day he learned of the former St Ignatius pupil's death.

He told jurors: "That's my cousin. Why would I touch my cousin? A painting and the truth are two different things. Just because Leonardo da Vinci painted Jesus at the Last Supper doesn't mean he was really sitting in the middle like that."

When Simon Denison QC, prosecuting, asked him why he had not told police he had been the victim of an attack when he was accused of murder, he said: "My solicitor told me to say 'no comment'. If David Beckham told me to use my inside foot to help me bend it like Beckham, I would do it because he's got years of experience."

The Old Bailey heard how Avorgah, who was convicted of possession of a 10-inch blade in 2009, had been kicked out the house by his father and was living from address to address.

Following the fight, he went to A&E at the Royal Free Hospital, in Hampstead, with a bleeding hand before spending the night at his girlfriend's house in south London.

The day after he checked into a Travelodge, in Southwark, using false details. He was filmed on CCTV camera leaving the hotel in the early hours of the morning carrying a big black bag.

Mr Denison claimed the bag was filled with blood-stained clothes but Avorgah said it contained a brand new Playstation 3, still in the box, which he planned to sell to his friend George.

When asked where George was to verify the story, Avorgah replied: "He's dead."

Avorgah denies murder, two counts of attempted murder and two additional counts of wounding with intent to cause serious bodily harm.

Co-defendants Matthew Lanihun, 20, Kofi Ossimeh, 19, both of Finsbury Park, and of Finsbury Park, Daniel Riley, 22, of Holloway, deny the same charges.

The trial continues.