Canadian traveller who killed Briton during Peruvian ayahuasca ceremony says it was 'self-defence'

'I really thought I was going to die' said Canadian traveller Joshua Stevens who killed Unais Gomes

The incident happened in a alternative health centre in the jungle city of Iquitos on the Amazon river in Peru (Getty Images)

A Canadian man has claimed he stabbed a British tourist to death in an act of self-defence during a hallucinogenic ceremony in the Peruvian jungle because he felt he had no choice, believing he “was going to die”.

Speaking to the Candian broadcaster CTV Winnipeg, Joshua Stevens, a 29-year-old Canadian traveller, said he stabbed Unais Gomes, a 25-year-old former City banker, at the Australian-owned spiritual retreat in December 2015 after they both took the hallucinogenic plant brew ayahuasca.

The substance, which is illegal in the UK, is used by indigenous tribes in Peru as a cure for a variety of ailments. Ayahuasca is also known to be used by tourists seeking a mind-altering experience.

Mr Stevens told the broadcaster he had travelled to the region seeking a cure for a skin condition he had battled for years and believed the substance could cure him. "My hair started to fall out in circular patches and my arm was covered in a rash,” he said.

Mr Stevens, who said he had been sober and separate from the group at the time he took the substance, said: "I could hear him [Mr Gomes] screaming the name Yahowe. And I was very concerned, because he was just screaming it at the top of his lungs…. ‘You are Yahowe’ he said ‘you are Yahowe. It's time to get your demons out brother, it's time to get your demons out'.”

The Canadian tourist claims he then ran to the kitchen for help before Mr Gomes grabbed a knife and they fought. "He swiped at me, and he hit the table and his knife broke. I went to hit him with the pot and I hit him in the side of the body, and my pot broke. And that's when he picked up this big butcher knife.”

He added: "I really thought I was going to die. I was saying to myself, ‘If he gets this knife back, he’s either going to kill me or the other two men here.’”

As staff came to help, Mr Stevens wrestled the knife away from Mr Gomes, who he described as a "life-long friend", before stabbing him twice.

Mr Stevens was arrested by Peruvian authorities and held on suspicion of murder but was subsequently released and allowed to return to Canada.