A DISABLED man told a murder trial jury that he was savagely beaten before his attacker murdered his friend because he refused to hand over more alcohol.

Andrew Hulse said Anthony Muldoon, 26, went into a rage when his demands for vodka were turned down, punched him and left him unconscious on the floor.

Mr Hulse, 38, said he regained consciousness and saw best friend Norman Illingworth, 57, lying next to him in the living room of Mr Illingworth’s home in Essex Street, Middlesbrough.

Mr Hulse was arrested after police were called in the early hours of February 18, Teesside Crown Court was told yesterday – the second day of Mr Muldoon’s trial.

It later emerged that Mr Hulse was not the killer, and he was questioned as an alleged victim of Mr Muldoon, who denies murdering Mr Illingworth and assaulting Mr Hulse.

The jury has been told that Mr Muldoon accepts causing the head injuries to Mr Illingworth, but said he was not responsible for his actions because his drink had been spiked. Mr Hulse told the jury yesterday that he had gone to his friend’s home on the afternoon for one of their regular drinking sessions, and that Mr Muldoon turned up later.

He said Mr Muldoon took amphetamine, quickly drank five shots of neat vodka, went to the toilet and demanded more spirits when he returned to the front room.

Mr Hulse told the jury: “I said ‘no, I bought that for my best friend’, and he just started lacing into me.

“There was no warning. He was hitting me in the face. He knocked me out dead quick.

“I woke up at around quarter past three, and I was laid on the floor next to Norman.

There was a knock at the door, and the police came in and I got arrested. I thought my nose was broken, but it was badly swollen. I had two black eyes, and my face was like a balloon.”

Mr Hulse, who was left partially paralysed after an accident as a child and another when he was in his 20s, said: “It was like getting hit by Mike Tyson. God knows what he used.”

Mr Illingworth suffered head injuries, and the jury has been told that he was hit twice in the back of the head and at least four times in the face.

The trial continues.