A MAN who died after allegedly being assaulted by three men, had been beaten so badly he was unrecognisable, a court has heard.

James Straiton, 59, died two weeks after receiving serious head injuries in an attack outside his home in Winnington on Friday, July 25 2008.

In a moving statement, brother Edward Straiton told the murder trial at Chester Crown Court how he struggled to make out his own sibling, who he called Jimmy, when he first went to visit him at North Staffordshire Hospital.

He said: “When his son Andrew first called to tell me what had happened, I actually thought it was Jimmy on the phone, they sounded so similar.

“But then he told me what had happened. I went to see him in hospital where he was so bad that I didn’t even recognise him initially.”

Tragically the pair had not spoken since 2003 following a row over money, but he is still struggling to come to terms with his death.

“He had never been an aggressive man, I had never known him to be in a fight, he was just always laughing and joking,” he said.

“He seemed to get on with everyone.

“I’m really upset, and shocked, and angry that it has happened, even though I went to see him after he died, I still can’t believe it is real.”

School friends Paul Blower, 20, from Wincham, Nigel Goolding, 20, from Winnington and Joshua Spruce, 20, also from Winnington, have been charged with his murder.

The trial continues.