THE trial of four men accused of murdering a Northfleet man four years ago has begun.

Edward Shaxted, known as Ted, died in Darent Valley Hospital on December 16 2007, aged 36, after being beaten up in the bathroom of his home in Wallis Park, Northfleet, on December 2 in 2007.

Marvin Service, aged 35, of Brandon Street, Gravesend; Bill Saunders, aged 30, of Denton Caravan Site in Gravesend; 38-year-old Trevor Lees of London Road, Northfleet, and 32-year-old Kelvin Horlock, from Strood, all deny one charge of murder and a second of manslaughter.

Prosecuting, Jonathan Higgs told Maidstone Crown Court that the day before the attack, Mr Shaxted had visited his ex-girlfriend Doreen Good in Ebbsfleet Walk, where she lived with her sister Karen Horlock - the mother of Kelvin.

The jury heard Ms Good left Mr Shaxted in the flat while visiting her daughter, but that he drove home while over the legal alcohol limit.

He was arrested by police after crashing into another car on the way home, taken to Northfleet police station but released that evening.

The next night is when the alleged attack occurred.

Mr Higgs told jurors that in an interview with police in hospital after the assault, Mr Shaxted described hearing a knock at the door and seeing three men he did not recognize.

He told officers: "As I opened the door they pushed me into the flat and straight into the bathroom and they set upon punching and kicking me continually.

"I would say it lasted for several minutes."

Mr Shaxted never formally identified his attackers but said he heard one man say "come on Billy" at the scene.

Mr Higgs told the jury Mr Shaxted was left with a broken collar bone as well as double fractures in every rib on the right of his body.

Jurors saw photographs of the victim's flat, showing his blood in the bathroom and living room, where a friend found him shortly before 10pm on December 2 and rang an ambulance.

Specks of blood belonging to Mr Lees were also found outside the flat and on the carpet just inside the door, the court heard.

The trial continues.