Accused ... Kiaran Stapleton.
A gunman who labelled himself "Psycho" in court had a "killer" tattoo inked on his face two days after shooting dead a stranger through the head at close range, a British jury has heard.
Kiaran Stapleton, 21, walked up to Indian student Anuj Bidve, 23, and his friends in the street in Manchester in the early hours of Boxing Day last year.
He asked them the time and when someone answered he pulled out a gun without warning, put it to Bidve's head and fired one shot.
Stapleton then "smirked or laughed" before he ran off to his nearby family home, Manchester Crown Court heard on Monday.
While still at large, just two days later he went to a tattoo shop and had a teardrop design put on his right cheek.
Prosecutor Brian Cummings QC said staff remembered the visit because the nature of the tattoo can signify that the wearer has killed someone.
He said: "This was pointed out to Kiaran Stapleton, in an effort to ensure that this was really what he wanted, and he said words to the effect that he had killed his goldfish, did that count?"
The next day the defendant was arrested and initially denied being the killer before he was charged with Bidve's murder.
When he made his first appearance at Manchester Magistrates Court he was asked if his name was Kiaran Stapleton and replied: "No, Psycho. Psycho Stapleton."
Stapleton later admitted he was the person who pulled the trigger and three weeks ago pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but denies murder.
Bidve was studying for a micro-electronics postgraduate qualification at Lancaster University after arriving in the UK last September and had travelled over with eight fellow students to spend Christmas in Manchester.
His friends gave descriptions of the gunman and the second male, Ryan Holden, who was with Stapleton, and officers trawled CCTV footage from the area.
Holden was arrested on December 28 and Stapleton the day after.
Bidve's parents, Subhash and Yogini, flew from their home in Pune, India to attend the trial and listened intently from the front row of the public gallery, out of sight of the defendant who sat in the dock flanked by four prison officers.
The trial, scheduled to last up to four weeks, continues on Tuesday.
PA