The trial of a man accused of murdering his friend and dismembering his body has heard he told gardaí he panicked and shot him during a fight.

Paul Wells Senior of Barnamore Park, Finglas in Dublin admits killing Kenneth O’Brien in January 2016 but claims it was unintentional.

The night before gardaí interviewed Paul Wells for an eighth time, he told them he was overwhelmed by guilt and would tell them everything in the morning

The next day he told them Kenneth O’Brien wanted him to kill his partner, and he claimed he called over to his house on the night in question to discuss how he’d do it.

Mr Wells said he didn't want to harm her and he just lost it.

He said they grappled out the back of his house and Mr O’Brien dropped a gun.

He claimed his friend reached for it and he panicked, picked it up first and shot him in the back of the head - but he said he didn't want to kill him.

It is the prosecution’s case that he then dismembered the father-of-one’s body with a chainsaw.

The court heard previously that Mr O’Brien’s torso was found in a suitcase floating in a canal in Co Kildare on the same day he was reported missing.

The trial continues tomorrow.