A man was stabbed to death outside a nightclub during a fight which started when his killer threw a burger at a woman, a trial has been told. 

Trei Daley, 26, from Bromley, died after he was knifed in the heart outside the Colour Factory in Hackney Wick on February 11 last year. 

Two men, 35-year-old Christopher Appiah-Blay and 39-year-old Mawien Mawien, are accused of his murder. 

Trei had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday when they became involved in a fight with the defendants, who they had never met before. 

Prosecutor Julian Evans KC said: “Sadly, this will not be the first time that groups of men have got in fights outside a club after a night club, nor will it be the last. 

“No one, least of all me, is going to say that a punch-up is acceptable behaviour – it isn’t, but usually nobody dies. 

“This fight was different. And the simple reason that this fight was different, and the reason this fight ended in tragedy, is simple. It is because the defendants were carrying knives. And in the course of the fight, they used those knives.” 

Escalation after a burger was thrown 

Prosecutor Mr Evans told the court that Trei, his brother Rico and a friend met at a bar in Kingsbury for food and drinks before Trei drove them to the Colour Factory at around 1.15am. 

At around 4am the club closed but as people left they began to kill around outside, where there was a fast-food outlet called Wicked Fish. 

In that restaurant Appiah-Blay got into an argument with a young woman. 

The jury were told that Appiah-Blay was being “rude”, “rowdy” and a “nuisance”. 

The woman said she was called “fat” and a “b**ch” and she replied “shut up, f*** off”. 

Appiah-Blay was heard complaining that she had spat at him so he threw a drink at her, the jury were told. 

Some of the drink fell on Trei and his friend, Malachi Robinson. 

The woman said she continued to goad Appiah-Blay, who then threw a burger at her leaving sauce in her hair. 

Mr Evans said that at this point Trei intervened and told Appiah-Blay to calm down, asking: “What are you guys doing?” 

Things then calmed down for around five minutes before Trei’s brother Rico got into an argument with Mawien, the court was told. 

Mawien allegedly told Rico: “These are my ends, I can get people her in seconds.” 

As tensions rose the first punch was thrown by Trei, beginning a fight which would have fatal consequences. 

Stabbed in the heart

The fight involved Trei facing off against Appiah-Blay and Trei’s friend Sheldon Bastien facing off against Mawien, Mr Evans told the jury. 

Appiah-Blay pulled a knife out just moments after Trei threw a punch, the jury were told. 

During the fight Bastien was allegedly stabbed in the back by Mawien, but fortunately he only received minor injuries. 

But Appiah-Blay stabbed Trei twice in the chest, with one the stabbings penetrating his heart. 

Trei was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead just an hour after he had been stabbed. 

Mawien Mawien, of Portland Close in Chadwell Heath, and Appiah-Blay, of Wick Road in Hackney, are both charged with Trei’s murder and wounding Bastien. 

The trial continues.