Scar-faced killer Mark Hobson was an alcoholic thug who beat his girlfriend and revelled in his reputation as a local hardman, according to his former friends and neighbours.

The father of three had been barred from a string of pubs and clubs in the tough working class neighbourhoods of Selby after a succession of alcohol-fuelled brawls.

He had a number of convictions for assault, criminal damage, dishonesty and wounding a man with a knife.

Ian Lazenby, 39, who knew Hobson for over four years, said he was prone to sudden mood swings and once even threatened to stab his teenage son.

''He was a strange type of person. He would be laughing and joking one moment and then totally different the next.

''He threatened to kill my son, to stab him, I can't even remember what it was about.

''He liked to portray himself as a local hardman but he was the kind of guy who would pick on easy targets. The kind of guy who would thump you for spilling his pint.

''It's easy to imagine him battering someone or kicking their heads in but I didn't think he was a killer.'' Neighbours in the terraced street where he once lived with his wife and three children openly admitted they were frightened of the former binman.

One woman on Alma Terrace said: ''He caused a lot of trouble in the street. I remember a window being smashed. He is a bit of a nutcase and idiot. He is mainly remembered around here by reputation.''

Hobson's notorious reputation was to be further enhanced in 2002, when he stabbed a man five times outside an off-licence in front of horrified shoppers.

William Brace, a father of two, suffered a punctured lung in the savage daylight attack in Selby.

But Hobson walked free from court a year later after being sentenced to 100 hours' community work and two years' probation.

Chilling details of the brutal encounter were splashed over the front pages of local newspapers - and in the close-knit communities of Selby he became a feared figure.

Hobson had moved to the town with his family from Wakefield in the 1980s, as his father looked for work at the local pit.

Peter Hobson had been a well-respected figure in the West Yorkshire city, where he had risen through the ranks to become a deputy and over-manager at Parkhill Colliery until it closed in 1982.

He was a keen sportsman who rarely drank or displayed any violent traits, according to family friends.

Mark Hobson's childhood appeared to have been stable and relatively happy, and he was remembered by his school friends as a shy and polite boy.

He spent much of his teenage years hanging around as part of a small gang on the Flaxley Road in Selby, though locals say they were rarely involved in any trouble.

Hobson soon developed his father's work ethic, taking a string of industrial jobs in the town. He cleaned and sorted coal at Drax power station and later worked at Rigid Containers, a huge packaging factory, where his girlfriend Claire Sanderson was also later to get a job.

But he was sacked by the company after the attack court case for the ''protection'' of its staff.

He worked as a binman, which he left a month before the murders by mutual consent. He earned money as an odd-job man after leaving the refuse collection company.

Shaven-headed Hobson married his childhood sweetheart Kay in 1994 and the couple moved into a terrace council house in the town. He adopted her two children and they later had a daughter together.

But Hobson walked out on his family five years later, claiming he had had enough of married life. It was to prove a key turning point in his life. Concerned at his drink and drug binges and the brutal street attack on Mr Brace, his wife denied him access to his children.

She told the News of the World: ''I shudder to think I could have married such a man. He was like a ticking timebomb waiting to explode. ''He turned to drink and drugs but all they've done is rot his brain. His life just went completely off the rails.

''It was after the attack that Mark changed for the worse. He turned to pot and drinking heavily. He never drank when we were married but he got out of his face.

''He became like a zombie. He knew he had these demons inside. I had to stop him seeing the children.''

The death of his father from cancer also hit Hobson hard as his drink and drug binges continued to spiral out of control.

He ended up stealing his sister's engagement and wedding rings and pawning them to pay for his alcohol addiction, which had got to to the stage where he was knocking back 20 cans of beer a day.

He was given 50 hours' community service when he appeared at Selby magistrates' court in February last year.

Life appeared to pick up for Hobson when he moved in with his 27-year-old girlfriend Claire Sanderson, whom he had been dating for about 18 months.

They moved into a small flat in the village of Camblesforth in April last year, hoping to make a fresh start and escape from his problems in Selby.

But the couple's stormy relationship was marred with blazing public rows, which often descended into wild fights and beatings.

Ms Sanderson was regularly seen sporting bruises and cuts after ending up on the receiving end of Hobson's explosive temper.

Her worried parents pleaded with their headstrong daughter to leave him, and their relationship suffered as a result of her loyalty to Hobson. ''We'd met a number of times and often she carried the scars and bruising around her eyes that Mark inflicted during their drunken rows,'' his ex-wife recalled.

A friend of the couple's also remembers how their rows exploded into terrifying violence.

Maxine Firth, 36, said: ''One time our friend caught Mark about to hit Claire with a dumbbell. He ended up having to separate them.

''Another time Mark pushed Claire down a flight of stairs.''

Jourjina Leckie, 21, whose mother Cheryl once had a month-long fling with Hobson, said he and Ms Sanderson both changed when they drank.

''They loved to spend the day happily drinking lager in the pub. Mark could really drink.

''They were both great when they were sober but it was a different story after they had been drinking. They turned into monsters and then they would really fight.''

Others recall how Hobson poured bleach over his girlfriend, pulled her down the stairs by her hair and hit her over the head with a wine bottle. He even pushed and punched his girlfriend in public during drink-fuelled rages.

A horrified onlooker smashed Hobson over the head with a pool cue after one attack in a pub in Selby.

But friends said Ms Sanderson always seemed to forgive him.

Kelly Williams - whose friendship with Ms Sanderson broke down after she refused to dump her violent boyfriend - said: ''I was worried something bad would happen.

''I was one of many friends who tried everything to persuade Claire to give him up - but it was no good.

''She loved him and when he was sober, he loved her.''

Another close friend of Ms Sanderson revealed: ''She would come to me crying her eyes out after being beaten up by Hobson. ''She would say she was never going back to him, but always did. I think she thought that he would change one day.

''She had even been to counselling with him to help curb his drinking.''

Ms Sanderson was last seen on Saturday July 11, drinking in their local pub - The Comus Inn - with her boyfriend.

Hobson had called her family to reassure them she was fine during the following week.

But seven days later, her concerned twin sister Diane was lured to their flat after receiving a call from Hobson, who told her that Claire was unwell.

The twins' battered bodies were found wrapped naked in plastic bags the next day by their horrified father and Diane's boyfriend.

Both had been subjected to brutal hammer attacks and Claire had been dead for several days.

Hobson had been seen drinking in the Comus Inn on the night before he disappeared - a week after he had been seen there with Claire for the last time.

Hobson had spent much of the week sitting in the bar, drinking lager and reading an SAS survival handbook wrapped in green canvas He appeared to be ''drowning his sorrows'', according to a barmaid.