A woman who witnessed a man being brutally killed thought she was watching someone chop wood, a jury heard.

It was only five days later after reading a report in The Argus that Karen Rendle contacted the police.

Lewes Crown Court was told homeless Lea Williams, 45, was so badly beaten with a metal railing on Hove’s seafront that the front of his face had “caved in”.

Fellow street drinkers Michael Clark, 51, and Edward Phillips, 49, are accused of his murder, while Lauren Bishop, 36, is charged with conspiracy to murder.

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Miss Rendle, who spoke from behind a screen, told how she regularly caught the 700 bus from the stop next to the pitch and putt course on Kingsway.

On February 8, she missed her usual bus and spotted two men walking across the putting green towards an alcove where Williams lived – known as the bat cave.

Minutes later she said the pair were “kneeling” at the entrance.

“The one on the left was raising his arms and bringing them down swiftly,” she added.

“I couldn’t tell you howmany times but it was repeated. At the time I thought maybe they were wood chopping or something like that. The other man was just looking down.”

She told the jury she was “concerned”

but “reassured” as others appeared to be watching from nearby flats.

It was only on the following Wednesday (February 13) that her suspicions were raised when she noticed police activity in the area.

She later read a report of the killing in The Argus and called police to tell them what she had seen.

The jury previously heard that Mr Williams had become involved in an argument with Bishop an hour before his death.

Dianne Chan, prosecuting, said this had been the trigger for Bishop to order Clark and Phillips to kill Mr Williams.

Gavin Beatty, who witnessed the earlier confrontation, told the court how Bishop had been the aggressor and Williams had walked away without reacting.

Witness Joseph Sharp, who was woken up by the scuffle in Westbourne Gardens, added that the woman involved appeared to “kick”

and “stamp” on the man as he was on the ground.

The prosecution claim Clark and Phillips then followed him to the “bat cave” and brutally murdered him.

The trial continues.