Murder accused Michael Sanderson was found by a friend walking in the street with blood-stained hands on the night a retired paramedic was "brutally battered to death", a jury was told.

Farmer Robert Lister, who lives in the Aspatria area, told Manchester Crown Court that in the early hours of May 31 last year he saw 31-year-old Sanderson in Cockermouth's Main Street with blood on his hands.

On that same night, former paramedic Terence Edward Taylor, known as Terry, was beaten to death in the Globe Hotel, during what prosecutors are calling a “violent drunken rage”.

Giving evidence on day two of Sanderson's murder trial, Mr Lister said that he and Sanderson, of Arkleby Hall Cottages, Arkleby, near Aspatria, were part of a 36-strong group on a pub crawl organised from the Red Lion pub.

After a day of drinking at various locations throughout north and west Cumbria, the group ended up in Cockermouth.

After the Globe closed, Mr Lister and some friends went onto Main Street to look for a taxi home when he saw Sanderson.

He told the court: "He was limping a bit, a bit sore and as he got quite close I saw there was blood on his hands."

Mr Lister continued: "When I was very close to him there was a bit of blood on his shirt where his hands had been. His hands were definitely bleeding on the knuckles."

When asked by prosecutor Richard Pratt QC what his demeanour was like, Mr Lister responded by saying he believed Sanderson to be "drunk, a bit angry and upset".

Mr Taylor, who lived in the Oldham area but had a caravan in Gilcrux, was also on the pub crawl, which was mainly made up of members of the Red Lion's pool team. The 59-year-old turned out for the team on occasion when it was short of players.

However, following the day out in May last year Mr Taylor would not go home after he was discovered injured in the back room of the Globe. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven.

Mr Pratt asked Mr Lister if Sanderson said anything when they bumped into one another.

Referring to his witness statement, Mr Lister told the jury: "Apparently he said something like it's not right and later on he wanted revenge."

Mr Lister said he believed Sanderson had been in some kind of fight and decided to take him to his brother David's house in Cockermouth, where the cuts were treated.

The court also heard from Peter Brown, the owner of the Globe Hotel, about the moment he found Mr Taylor lying injured in his pub when cleaning up at the end of the night.

When realising he was seriously hurt Mr Brown grabbed Mr Taylor's hand and said "come on, come on". He then said he quickly looked outside the nearby fire doors to see if anyone was around before going back inside.

"[When I came back in] I got my phone out and I just couldn't... it just hit me as I was coming back in," he said.

Some police statements were read out to the jury that revealed how police found dry blood which led them to Sanderson's brother's house, who told officers that it belonged to Michael.

Earlier in the hearing the jury was told that Mr Taylor had suffered a “repeated” and “forceful” attack which led to a brain haemorrhage.

Sanderson and Mr Taylor, who had been pool doubles partners at times, were seen on CCTV earlier on the night in question talking at the Globe Hotel bar.

Sanderson denies murder and the trial continues.