Two detectives who were disciplined over their investigation into the murder of accountant Jay Abatan gave evidence at his inquest yesterday.

Detective Inspector Martin Sapwell was given two cautions for mishandling his role in the inquiry.

Retired Detective Inspector Andy Young was reprimanded after two independent reviews listed 57 failures and shortcomings in the investigation by Sussex Police.

Mr Abatan, 42, died five days after he was punched to the ground in a dispute over a taxi outside the Ocean Rooms club, Brighton, in 1999.

He suffered a fractured skull and brain damage when his head hit the ground after he was punched twice during the confrontation.

Peter Bell and Graham Curtis were arrested within days of the attack but manslaughter charges against them were later dropped through lack of evidence.

Veronica Hamilton-Deeley, coroner for Brighton and Hove, limited questioning of Mr Young and Mr Sapwell to their notes of the first few days of the inquiry.

Mr Sapwell said they identified the suspects and interviewed witnesses.

He had also taken part in the arrest of Graham Curtis.

Mr Young said he had visited the scene, been to the hospital to check on Jay's injuries and had later attended the post mortem.

Both said their notebooks of the first few days of the investigation contained only brief details and much more information was contained in other documents and records.

The partner of Peter Bell said she believed the fight was only over who should have the taxi.

Both Lynne Bell and friend Alison Reaney said there was no racial motive involved.

Mrs Bell told Mr Abatan's partner Tanya Haynes: “Peter assured me he was not responsible for the death of Jay Abatan.

“He assured me that if he was he would have come forward and held his hands up no matter how difficult that would have been. It certainly was not anything to do with race.”

Mrs Reaney said she saw Mr Curtis after was released from police cells and asked him what had happened.

She said: “He said he made no comment and I felt he was almost saying don't ask me. He seemed very sullen and depressed over it all.

“The racial thing is about me knowing the group, Tanya. I had never heard them make any sort of racist comment.

“Peter has a very wide range of friends of all nationalities.”

The two men were later cleared of assaulting Jay's brother Michael after a trial and Mr Curtis, who suffered from depression, later hanged himself.

Nick Goddard, one of the revellers involved in the fracas, earlier told the inquest that Mr Curtis had said he hit someone so hard he had gone down like a sack of potatoes.

The hearing continues.