A man on trial for murder in Easton told a jury he defended himself when his friend attacked him.
Mahamud Osman said he was in his lounge drinking with Hassan Hagi when Mr Hagi insulted his family, slapped him and threw a glass and bottle at him.
He admitted grabbing a baseball bat and striking Mr Hagi two or three times.
Osman told Bristol Crown Court: “When he hit me (with a pint glass) it hit the back wall and then it broke.
“He slapped me on the face and on the head and he grabbed an empty bottle and hit me on the shoulder.
“I moved back to my seat.
“I grabbed my baseball bat and I defended myself with it."
Osman, 40, of Perry Street, denies murdering Mr Hagi in November last year.
A jury has been told Osman inflicted a “sustained and vicious and very forceful attack” in his living room, during which he struck Mr Hagi at least a dozen times.
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Mr Hagi was left with more than 60 visible injuries to the outside of his body, according to prosecutor Sean Brunton QC, as well as fatal internal injuries - including fractures to every rib.
Mr Bruton said: “The injuries were so traumatic that they killed him,” Mr Brunton said.
He added that there could be no justification of self-defence or loss of control.
Speaking in his defence, Osman said it was Hagi who attacked him both verbally and physically.
Osman told the jury Mr Hagi had been his good friend.
He said: “We never had such an argument before.
“We had a very bad argument and I tried to defend myself.”
Osman went out after the incident to collect a money transfer and buy vodka, the court heard.
The jury heard Osman suffered from alcohol dependency as well as post traumatic stress disorder arising from his childhood experiences in Somalia.
Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Arden Tomison said: "In my view he lost control. As soon as he reached reached for the weapon. The severity of the beating and the outcome of that - all these things go to the loss of self-control.”
He added that alcohol dependency would have influenced Osman’s behaviour on both the night in question and the day after.
The case continues.
