Jesse Allan, 26, was wrapping up a night out with a woman in the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly early in the morning of January 27, 2024 when the deadly altercation occurred.
Matthew Williams, 37, threw a water bottle at the couple and then later peppered them with profanities and harassment, Allan said in evidence to the NSW District Court on Monday.
The two bumped into each other three times during the night, with Allan eventually grabbing the other man's shirt and pushing him so hard he fell over, hitting his head on a wall.
Mr Williams was found by police around 3am with critical head injuries and died 10 days later in hospital.
In court, the 26-year-old admitted he had a number of alcoholic drinks and that he had been affected by MDMA prior to the fatal incident.
He was urged by his date to walk away from Mr Williams and later put her in an Uber, but Allan denied claims by crown prosecutor Rossi Kotsis that he was angry and had gone seeking out the other man.
"You decided to track him down?" the prosecutor said.
"No," Allan replied.
"To show him in your words you were not a person to be f***ed with?" the prosecutor continued.
"No," Allan said again.
The pair bumped into each other a third time when verbal mud-slinging turned deadly despite Mr Williams eventually backing away and putting his arms up in a defensive pose.
Allan pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter in May, when he was taken into custody, but is contesting parts of the prosecution version of events.
CCTV and phone footage played to the court on Monday showed him pushing Mr Williams on two separate occasions during the night.
At one stage, the 37-year-old was shoved so hard his legs were seen almost vertically up in the air.
Allan claimed he was fearful that Mr Williams was armed with a weapon throughout the night.
He told the court he had also pushed another man that night to protect three other males as they were in the midst of an argument.
The hearing continues.
18°C