Police tape
Errol Hanson claims he stabbed Mohammed Savare in self-defence Getty

A homeowner is accused of stabbing a drunken burglar more than 50 times and killing him after catching him trying to steal a TV from his living room.

Errol Hanson allegedly knifed Mohammed Savare in his garden early on 19 June after he caught the 26-year-old man taking off with his TV.

According to the MailOnline, the 51-year-old homeowner was sweeping the street outside his home.

When Hanson came inside his house, he spotted Savare with his TV in his hands and mobile phone in his pocket. The two got into a violent scuffle that saw Hanson grabbing a knife before stabbing the intruder on the patio outside and bled to death after being stabbed 30 times in the neck alone.

Hanson denies he murdered Sayare, but admits to stabbing the man. The homeowner, of Brownhill Road, Catford, south London, told the court he was "terrified" and his actions were in self defence. But the prosecution said Hanson's actions were "neither necessary nor reasonable".

Lisa Wilding QC, prosecuting, said: "The prosecution say that his actions were in fact neither necessary to defend himself, as the intruder was by now outside the property, neither were they reasonable, and were therefore not done in lawful self-defence."

Hanson alerted police after running into a newsagents next door and telling staff "someone came to my house and beat me, please quickly call the police".

Describing the stabbing, Wilding said: "He was scared and shouted at him to get out of his house. He couldn't see if the man had a weapon. He explained that Mr Savare dropped the television and head-butted him and punched him in the face.

"The defendant then got the intruder in a bear hug as he felt terrified and was trying to get him out of the house.

"The two of them struggled in the course of which a radiator came off its hinges in the hallway and in the kitchen they knocked into the fridge which caused some miniature bottles on top of it to fall down.

"He went on to explain that he managed to get the intruder outside onto the patio and then returned inside and got hold of two knives before returning outside with them in his pocket at which the intruder punched him again and was being aggressive and violent.

"Mr Hanson said that he then took out one knife and stabbed the man in the throat.

Hanson told doctors that he was in a "rage" and that he "had never felt that angry before and he had lost control as [he] felt mad and angry".

The trial continues.