A teenage partygoer was stabbed to death by the boyfriend of the birthday boy's mother as he fled a violent gang of gatecrashers, the Old Bailey heard this morning.

Wesley Sterling, 16, was stabbed in the heart as he tried to re-enter the party at Croydon Arena to escape members of the Don't Say Nothing (DSN) gang.

Prosecutor Brian Altman QC told the court Carleto Salmons, from Thornton Heath, stabbed the teenager after arming himself with a kitchen knife to repel the DSN invaders.

The jury heard Wesley died on a concrete slab outside the arena in the arms of his father Mark, who had rushed to the scene from his home nearby.

Mr Altman said all the adults at the party were relatives of birthday boy Shaquille Hines, who went by the street names Viler and Tiny Viler.

He said Mr Salmons, who was seeing Shaquille's mother Louise Robinson, had been acting as a bouncer at the party with the boy's father and uncle on April 17 last year.

The court heard police had been called earlier that evening to reports members of the DSN gang were attempting to break in to the celebration.

Officers broke up the trouble but were summoned again just after midnight after a string of 999 calls, some claiming a gun shot had been fired.

A violent stand-off saw DSN members throwing bricks and bottles at the outside of the arena's clubhouse, with partygoers trapped inside retaliating by launching chairs and tables at their attackers, the court heard.

Police discovered a group of children attempting to give the dying Wesley CPR outside the clubhouse, but despite ambulance crews taking over they were unable to save him.

Mr Altman told the court Salmons and at least one other adult armed themselves with knives from the kitchen to repel the DSN youths, which led to the defendant stabbing the 16-year-old once through the heart.

Mr Salmons denies murder, saying he did not have a knife and did not stab Wesley Sterling.

The trial continues.