A man who was beaten unconscious with a vodka bottle after he tried to stop two men beating his friend to death has spoken of the fatal attack.

Joseph Spencer was knocked out for several hours after Lee Hogg and Terry Dalton brutally attacked him in his Middlesbrough home in the early hours of November 11 last year.

His friend, Carlos Boyce, had been ‘smashed all over the place’ by the pair and died after suffering fatal head injuries, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Hogg and Dalton had turned up at Mr Spencer’s home on Homerton Road, Middlesbrough, to drop of cocaine for the friends and stayed for five hours before fleeing the scene.

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In a video recorded police interview, the-then 36-year-old described the alleged murderers as ‘bullies’ who carried out a brutal attack on Mr Boyce inside his flat.

The Northern Echo: Carlos BoyceCarlos Boyce (Image: Cleveland Police)

He said: “They were steaming into him; they were both giving him a good hiding using their fists and stamping on his head.

“I pulled them off and they smacked me with a full bottle of vodka and put me to the ground.

“I heard Lee Hogg tell the other lad to hold me down, he sat on my chest and then Lee Hogg started hitting me in the face with the bottle and also stamping on my head.”

When the detectives asked Mr Spence why the attack had started, he told them there was no reason as the pair were ‘just being bullies’.

Mr Spencer was knocked unconscious during the alleged assault and when he came round, he found his friend laid on the floor in the hallway.

In his confused state he wandered to a nearby shop where he was caught on CCTV buying sweets and drinks while his face and head was covered in dried blood.

A passing motorists stopped to help him and that was when the emergency services were called and Mr Spencer let the police into his flat where they discovered Mr Boyce.

The 36-year-old father-of-one was declared dead at the scene.

Jurors heard how trouble flared when Hogg became annoyed that Mr Boyce was smoking cocaine in his presence before Mr Spencer reminded him whose house they were in before the two defendants went to speak to the 36-year-old in the hallway.

Opening the case, Nick Dry, prosecuting, said: “He went to investigate and he saw Carlos Boyce was put to the floor and was being attacked while in the hallway area.

“His friend was unconscious, the defendants were kicking and stamping him to the head. He pulled them off his friend but he was then attacked.

“That fight moved into the living room where he was able to put up more resistance before he was struck with a vodka bottle. He was then held down by Dalton while Hogg hit him with the bottle.

“He recalls being hit with a table before losing consciousness.”

The Northern Echo: Chequers Inn, Dalton on Tees where the suspected murderers were hiding outChequers Inn, Dalton on Tees where the suspected murderers were hiding out (Image: Google)

Following the fatal attack, Hogg and Dalton went on the run for two days before being arrested after causing trouble at the Chequers Inn, Dalton, near Darlington, while they were attempting to lie low.

The two defendants were arrested in the early hours of the morning on November 13.

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Hogg and Dalton left to scene in a Land Rover Freelander before they were caught on CCTV inside a shop in Nunthorpe where they were laughing and joking with each other.

Jurors heard how Hogg started to search for flights from Teesside Airport after learning of Mr Boyce’s death.

Hogg, 38, of Lindisfarne Road, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, and 53-year-old Dalton, of Ellerbeck Way, Ormesby, both deny murder and causing grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.