A row over a £20 debt left a man with fatal head injuries after he was violently attacked in the early hours of the morning.

Mark Robinson was asleep in a friend’s flat in Redcar when he viciously attacked by Raymond Whincup in July 2020, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 40-year-old suffered catastrophic head injuries and died more than a year later after never regaining his mobility and remained in intensive care for four months.

Whincup, who lived in an upstairs flat on Station Road, Redcar, is accused of heading downstairs and carrying out the fatal attack on Mr Robinson.

Read more: Darlington man threatened to kill his partner with a hammer during late night row

Toby Hedworth KC, prosecuting, said the alleged victim suffered a significant bleed on the brain as a result of his injuries.

Mr Robinson was visiting Jonathan Gregory at his flat when Whincup and Lewis Skelton turned up before the three of them headed up the accused’s upstairs flat to spend their time drinking.

The Northern Echo: Mark RobinsonMark Robinson

But Whincup left to go downstairs and when Mr Gregory returned to his downstairs flat, he found Mr Robinson lying injured on the floor.

Mr Gregory says that Whincup was standing over his friend and he said: “I knocked him out. He’s not hard. He’s not a kick-boxer.”

The third man who was there, Mr Skelton, died last year, the court heard.

Giving evidence, Mr Gregory said when he went downstairs he found Mr Robinson 'curled up on the floor, murmuring'.

He said he managed to persuade the accused and his friend to leave the block of flats saying 'the bobbies are going to come'.

Read next:

The court heard how Mr Robinson had suffered a stroke following a previous assault and was concerned that another attack could prove fatal.

His mother, Gillian Harrison, said her son had been bullied by drug dealers on a number of occasions and told her he knew some 'bad people' and wanted to protect me from this.

The 36-year-old’s murder trial continues.