Alleged ammonia attack murder victim Andrew Foster's partner has told how she "knew he was dead" as she tried to revive him.

Katie Harrison said she heard Andrew answer the door and thought it was a friend or someone wanting to buy cannabis from him. But then she heard him screaming and shouting for her to ring an ambulance, saying he couldn't breathe.

She told jurors she initially thought he had been stabbed but then as she stood at the top of the stairs and he was at the bottom, the smell of ammonia hit her and caught her throat. Despite her efforts and those of medics to save him, the 26-year-old died. Youssef Wynne, John Wandless, Kenneth Fawcett and Josh Hawthorn deny murder and a series of other offences and are standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

Katie said on the night of Sunday August 20, a few people attended their home in Wrekenton, Gateshead, to buy cannabis from Andrew and they were watching TV. She said she said she was going to bed around 10.30pm and they cuddled for a while before she went upstairs.

She said she was watching TikTok in bed when she heard a knock on the door and heard Andrew answer it and say "areet mate" and she assumed it was a friend or someone buying a deal of cannabis as it seemed like a "normal conversation". But when she heard a deeper voice than the friend she thought it might be, she wondered who it was and paid more attention.

Katie said, in a video-recorded interview with the police played to court: "Then I heard Andy screaming. He was saying 'Katie you need to ring an ambulance, you need to ring an ambulance'.

"He was bent over facing away from me at the bottom of the stairs. I was at the top of the stairs.

"I thought he had been stabbed. I said 'what have they done, where have they stabbed you'.

"He turned around and grabbed his face. His eyes were red and swollen. His eyes were swollen up massively and he couldn't open them.

"He said 'it's ammonia, it's ammonia, I can't breathe, I can't breathe'. As soon as he turned around the smell hit me - a really strong chemical smell.

"It caught my throat as well. I was even struggling to breathe and I was upstairs. I can't imagine how he was."

Katie told the 999 call handler she thought he wasn't breathing and said she was told to do CPR on him, which she did. She said: "I knew he was dead when I was doing CPR. I could just tell."

She added: "I didn't expect him to die, I didn't know it could even do this."

Katie, who said they had a "lovely relationship" and loved each other "so much", said Andrew had asthma but that it had it had been fine and he had not been coughing before the incident.

She said when they previously lived in Jarrow, he bought drugs from various places, including from someone called "Yousi"- which prosecutors say is Wynne's nickname. She told of one occasion when he got "taxed" at gunpoint on the same day he had bought cannabis from Yousi.

Katie said Andrew answered the door to what he thought was a kebab delivery and was met by the sight of men in balaclavas pointing a gun at him. She said he was then "punched all over" and he was "in some state" and covered in bruises.

She said he was traumatised after that but didn't recognise those responsible. She added: "He said they must've know someone who had been in the flat and knew where the weed was. He had only just bought it that day.

"He thought the lad he bought it off came to rob it back. I think he bought it off Yousi."

Katie said they moved as a result of that and after they went to Wrekenton, Andrew's drug dealing operation was smaller scale and he ended up owing money to different people.

She said there also came a point where Yousi set up a cannabis farm in their loft at the flat in Jarrow and promised Andrew half of the proceeds, £60,000, to pay off his debts. However he didn't get any of the money and Katie said Andrew believed Yousi had taken it all for himself.

Andrew's friend, Hannah McNally, told how she was at his home on September 14 2022 when someone came to the door and Andrew went to speak to them. She said when he came back, his T shirt was covered in blood and he said someone he referred to as "Yousi" had punched him with a ring on.

Miss McNally said in a statement read to the court Andrew told her he owed Yousi money and he had come for it. She said she didn't know who Yousi was but knew Andrew used to make "edibles - drugs" for him. Miss McNally said she took photographs of Andrew and blood outside after the alleged attack.

Wynne, 39, of Wuppertal Court, Jarrow, Fawcett, 33, of Balkwell Avenue, North Shields, Wandless, 33, of no fixed address and Hawthorn, 22, of Ashfield, of Jarrow, deny murdering Mr Foster and also deny an offence of robbery, relating to the stealing of cannabis edibles, after Mr Foster had allegedly been attacked. Wynne also denies assault on Mr Foster 11 months before he died.

Wynne, Fawcett and Wandless also deny causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Nicola Dixon, who lost an eye. Wynne and Fawcett deny attempting to cause GBH with intent on a man on August 9 2023. Wynne, Fawcett and Wandless deny attempting to cause GBH with intent on another man on August 12. Wandless has pleaded to handling a stolen VW Golf and arson by burning it out after it was allegedly used in three of the incidents.

The trial continues.