THE housemate of a man who died after sustaining multiple injuries has told a court he was "petrified" of the men accused of carrying out the attack which killed him.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the men accused of Michael Phillips' murder are said to have knocked on Lee Hardwell’s door before storming inside and attacking the pair in June last year.

Seven are facing murder charges after the 39-year-old was subjected to a brutal and sustained assault using a cosh, knuckleduster, punches, kicks and stamps.

The witness, who was giving evidence via a videolink from an undisclosed location, told the court how the violence erupted as soon as the gang got inside his house on Rydal Street, Hartlepool.

He said after the both received an initial beating the gang forced them to watch CCTV footage of two people who they believed had burgled the home of a daughter of one of the defendants and stole her car.

As soon as they watch the footage, he said Mr Phillips panicked and tried to flee before the gang turned on him like "a pack of animals" and delivered a brutal and sustained assault.

Nick Johnson QC, prosecuting, asked Mr Hardwell how he felt after the fatal attack.

He said: "It’s hard to put into words. I was distraught; I was angry.

"He was my best friend. He’d been there since my partner died and helped me through that and now he’s dead."

When asked how he felt now, Mr Hardwell replied: "The same way I do now. Petrified. Wouldn’t you be scared? They’ve just killed my friend and I’ve seen it."

During cross examination Mr Hardwell told the jurors: "First of all having somebody knock on the door... then rushing through the door without saying a word and beating somebody tells me you’ve come in with intent to hurt somebody. Would you do that?

"I only found out since the court case what their reason was. I had no idea what was going on."

The seven defendants, all from Hartlepool, are Lee Darby, 32, of Ridley Court; Neil Elliott, 44, of Briarfields Close; Gary Jackson, 31, of The Darlings; John Musgrave, 54, and Sean Musgrave, 30, both of Wordsworth Avenue; Craig Thorpe, 36, of Young Street; and Anthony Small, 39, of Rydal Street.

The trial continues.