A man told a jury he would be “dead in a week” if he had “grassed” his friend to police for the Boxing Day killing of an Indian student.

Kiaran Stapleton, 21, smirked or laughed after shooting Anuj Bidve, 23, in the head at close range after asking him the time, Manchester Crown Court has heard.

Ryan Holden, 20, who was with Stapleton at the time of the shooting, said he feared for his family if he had gone to police after the incident in the early hours of Boxing Day last year.

Mr Bidve, in the UK to study at Lancaster University, was with eight Indian friends walking through the Ordsall area of Salford on their way to the Boxing Day sales when he was fatally injured.

Stapleton and Holden were arrested days later but Holden went from suspect to witness after telling police who was responsible.

Stapleton has admitted he pulled the trigger and has pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but denies murder.

Simon Csoka QC, defending, asked Holden why he did not give police an anonymous tip-off about who was responsible.

”If I had done I would have been dead in a week,” the witness replied.

”They all live near there,” he added.

”If you could do that to a random stranger, what would you do to someone who was classed as a grass?”

After the shooting both men fled to Stapleton’s home on the Ordsall estate nearby where they showered and put on fresh clothes.

Holden, who gave evidence from behind a curtain shielding the witness box from the public gallery, said there was “not a chance” of him going to police in the aftermath because his family would be put in danger, he claimed.

He said he had no idea his friend was even carrying a weapon - but Mr Csoka suggested in fact the gun belonged to the witness.

”The gun was yours,” Mr Csoka said. “You had been carrying it around in your man bag for most of Christmas Day.”

”No,” Mr Holden replied.

”You were not expecting him to use it,” Mr Csoka added.

”No, you have got it all wrong there mate,” the witness replied.

”You knew how terrible the situation was immediately because you had given him a loaded gun,” Mr Csoka said.

Mr Holden replied: “No I didn’t.”

Mr Csoka asked the witness if he had really never touched or seen the gun before, it was not his gun and he had done nothing wrong - why did he run and not just simply stay at the scene and tell police what happened.

But Mr Holden replied if he had done that, “Who would be the next person getting the chop? Me.”

Mr Holden admitted that in the days after the shooting, after showering and changing clothes, he had gone to a friend’s house and washed down his naked body with petrol to destroy evidence on his skin.

But he had failed to tell police about this and told the jury he had only remembered this while giving evidence in court.

”You were terrified you had been contaminated with gun shot residue because you had that gun,” Mr Csoka added.

”You were scared that your little part in this, giving the gun, would come out.”

”No,” Mr Holden replied. “I was paranoid, I knew nothing was on me. When you felt the way I did over the next few days, I was paranoid. Over them days my head was gone.”

The trial continues.