Jurors in the trial of four men accused of murdering a disabled barrister living in a tent in a Canterbury car park have retired to consider their verdicts.

The prosecution allege Guy Malbec, who qualified in law in the late 1990s but never practised, was the victim of a "brutal and sustained" attack while "vulnerable and outnumbered' in the early hours of Easter Sunday, April 9.

The 51-year-old was subjected to as many as 25 separate assaults with weapons that included his own wooden gavel - the type used by American judges - and laptop.

He suffered a significant fatal brain injury as well as fractures to his eye, nose and ribs, and his bloodied and battered body was eventually found by police on Easter Monday on the lower ground floor of Castle Street car park.

He was laying facedown in a vomit-stained sleeping bag pulled tight around his head and within a tent adjacent to his own that had been home for two of his alleged murderers, Sobantu Sibanda and Gavin Houghton.

Sibanda, 28, is accused by the prosecution of being the "main perpetrator" of violence meted out to Mr Malbec over the course of just over an hour, while 50-year-old chef Houghton, together with another former chef Keith Hall, 51, and 22-year-old Lithuanian Airidas Sakalauskas "assisted in or encouraged" the attack.

All four men deny murder but Sibanda, of Albert Street, Whitstable, has admitted manslaughter. Houghton and Sakalauskas, both of Old Dover Road, Canterbury, and Hall, of Athelstan Road, Thanington, also deny manslaughter.

The men, including Mr Malbec, knew each other through the Catching Lives homeless charity and were visitors to its day centre.

At the start of the trial last month, prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said the four defendants "did not like" their victim and continued to demonstrate a "callous disregard" even after his death.

Sibanda, the son of a university lecturer and social worker, revealed to the jury how he attacked Mr Malbec because he believed, albeit mistakenly, that he had stolen his (Sibanda's) £800 stash of cocaine.

The one-time financial advisor, known by his middle name of Talent, said he was "raging and fuming" as he repeatedly assaulted Mr Malbec.

But he maintained he only intended to cause "some harm" and not "serious harm or death" as alleged by the prosecution.

Houghton, Hall and Sakalauskas have been described by the prosecution as Sibanda's "henchman" in that they not only allegedly lent their support to the violence but also "did his bidding" by ransacking Mr Malbec's belongings in the hunt for the missing drug and then any valuables.

It is the defence case however that the three men did not participate in any physical assault.

But jurors were told that all four defendants have pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice in respect of their actions in the aftermath of the alleged murder.

Having left the car park and a dying Mr Malbec, Sibanda, Houghton and Sakalauskas returned several hours later to carry out an "extensive clean-up". This included dumping sacks containing at least 80 items such as bloodstained bedding, clothing and the gavel in council bins in nearby Gas Street.

Hall meanwhile had deleted messages and call logs from his phone between himself and Houghton.

Mr Malbec, described as "very articulate and personable", is believed to have arrived in Canterbury in mid-February, having returned to the UK on Boxing Day last year from a long period of time in Israel.

His mobility was affected by a significant leg injury he suffered while living abroad and he relied on a wheelchair, walking frame or stick to get around.

Despite his background, Mr Malbec ended up on the streets once back in the UK as his lengthy absence meant he had been refused benefits.

The court heard his initial contact with Catching Lives was on February 21 but he was not seen by Outreach workers to be living in the car park until March 28, when he was described as being "in good spirits and proud of his camp area" next to Sibanda and Houghton's tent.

Sibanda told the jury he had bought the cocaine with money saved from a construction job and hoped to sell it on for profit to get himself off the streets.

He admitted he was fixated on finding the missing drug as he accused and then repeatedly assaulted a "cowering and crying" Mr Malbec.

Sibanda also told the jury how he destroyed several of the victim's "precious" belongings including a piece of pottery and a wooden chessboard in his rage, and even "mocked" him by striking him with the gavel.

Neither Houghton nor Sakalauskas gave evidence.