Neighbours of a man stabbed and beaten to death outside his home have described how they found him fatally injured in his garden.

Lee Clarkson was subjected to a violent attack after a group of people turned up at his door looking for his housemate who they believed had burgled a shed.

The 41-year-old was dragged outside his semi-detached home before being set upon by the group, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Mr Clarkson’s friend Devlin Lee had told jurors that the masked armed group had smashed their way into the house before carrying out the fatal assault.

Lee ClarksonLee Clarkson (Image: DURHAM CONSTABULARY)

Next-door neighbour, Samantha Chester, said they came outside and saw Mr Lee on the phone.

Speaking in a recorded police interview, they said: “When I'd come out, my neighbour's friend was stood over him on the phone to somebody kind of explaining the scenario.

“I don't remember the exact words but he was explaining to this person that Lee was on the floor, that he was saying he was dying and that his lung was punctured.”

The witness said they noticed at least two stab injuries on Mr Clarkson when they were trying to help him on the ground.

Police at the scene of the alleged murder of Lee ClarksonPolice at the scene of the alleged murder of Lee Clarkson (Image: TERRY BLACKBURN)

They added: “There was a lot, a lot of blood on his leg. But it wasn’t until later on, that I’d noticed the massive pool of blood and how much blood there actually was and that it was possible that that blood on his leg had just come from bleeding.”

When asked where the blood was in relation to Mr Clarkson, they replied: “I believe he may have been trying to crawl towards the house before we’d got out and so it was just below his torso region, this is why it took us so long to realise that his chest had been injured.”

Mr Clarkson was pronounced dead outside his home on West Lane, Bishop Auckland, on November 29 last year. He bled to death despite the efforts of paramedics.

John Speight, a friend of Mr Clarkson who lived nearby, told police that he had unwittingly told the group where his friend lived after one of them called at his house looking for a ‘Lee’.

A police car remained at the scene the day after Lee Clarkson's alleged murderA police car remained at the scene the day after Lee Clarkson's alleged murder (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

The witness said he took his dog for a walk and came across the paramedics fighting to save his friend’s life.

He added: “The lad didn’t deserve it, he was a lovely lad, he was vulnerable. People were dossing at his property, and he didn’t like it, but he was one of these people what was frightened to say stuff to people.”

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Mr Speight told detectives that he believed the name of the man who called at his house was Karl Jones.

Michael Richardson, 52, of Boddy Street, Bishop Auckland; Karl Jones, 45, of General Bucher Court, Bishop Auckland; Helen Jones, 42, of General Bucher Court, Bishop Auckland; Craig Dent, 42, of Gray Street, Eldon Lane; and the teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons, are all on trial for murder.

Two members of the group, Craig Dent and the 17-year-old have admitted manslaughter but continue to deny murder of Mr Clarkson outside his home on West Lane in Bishop Auckland on November 29 last year.

The trial continues.