A HOMELESS man taken in as a lodger by a wheelchair-bound multiple sclerosis sufferer battered him to death on the day he moved in.

Keith Jones, who suffers from an anti-social behaviour disorder, killed Robert Henry Carter in a drunken rage at Mr Carter's home in Sandmoor Road, New Marske, on January 4.

Jones, 33, admitted the manslaughter of Mr Carter, known as Jack, but denies murdering him. His trial began at Teesside Crown Court on Monday.

A jury was told that Jones, who attacked 62-year-old Mr Carter with a table leg, said he had been assaulted first.

He told police officers that Mr Carter rose to his feet and threatened him after a row over a telephone call. Jones described the disabled father as acting 'like a monster', but the court had previously been told Mr Carter was a happy, well-liked man who could not walk unaided

In an interview, Jones said: "I felt physically and mentally threatened by the way he was going on. I snapped and punched him in the eye or the face. Every time I was hitting him, it looked like he was getting bigger and bigger.

"From then on, it was just a blur. I cannot remember exactly what happened."

After the killing, Jones went to the Royal pub, in Redcar, before returning to Mr Carter's home and going to bed.

The trial continues.