A man was stabbed to death after he tried to stop a carjacker from stealing his Mercedes SLK coupe, a court heard today.

Harjinder Singh Bhurji, 32, was parked in Stoneleigh Road, Ilford, Essex, talking to a female friend when he was attacked in the early hours of September 13 2011.

The knifeman approached the passenger side, pulled the woman out of the vehicle and demanded the keys, the Old Bailey was told.

Mr Bhurji, who was proud of his car with personalised number plates, told the carjacker he did not have the keys and threw them behind the driver's seat, the court heard.

He was stabbed in the heart but was was able to lean down to retrieve the keys and hand them over before he collapsed. The Mercedes was driven off "at speed" leaving Mr Bhurji dying by the road, the court heard.

The car was fitted with a tracking device and was found later parked neatly near Epping Forest, the court was told. Mr Bhurji's iPhone was gone.

Prosecutor Sally O'Neill QC said: "Mr Bhurji made the mistake of protesting against his car being taken."

She said the knifeman was defendant Rory Gordon working in a "joint enterprise" with his friend Jae'Don Fearon.

CCTV footage and mobile phone data put the pair at the scene of the murder, she said.

Gordon drove there in a black Corsa and left in the Mercedes. Fearon then picked him up in the Corsa after the the stolen car was left to see if it would be found by police, the court heard.

The prosecutor said Gordon and Fearon decided to carry out the car jacking together with "the use of a knife and if necessary the actual use of the knife to do so".

She told the jury: "If you are sure they were in it together, they will both be guilty of murder."

Another friend, Andre Campbell, later exchanged the victim's iPhone for £100, the prosecutor said.

Gordon, 23, of Chadwell Heath, east London, and Fearon, 21, of Chingford, Essex, deny murder. Campbell, 23, of Chingford, Essex, denies a charge of handling stolen goods.

The trial continues.