An alcoholic died after he was given a sustained and ferocious beating for taking a car without the owner's permission, a court heard.

It's alleged Ted Shaxted was attacked in revenge for stealing the Peugeot 206 while drunk and crashing it near his Northfleet home.

He was treated in hospital for his injuries, including multiple fractures of his ribs, but he died 12 days later.

Maidstone Crown Court was told the assault was organised by Kelvin Horlock, 32, son of the car owner, and carried out by Marvin Service, 35, Bill Saunders, 30, and 38-year-old Trevor Lees.

Horlock, of Hatfield Road, Strood, Service, of Brandon Street, Gravesend, Saunders, of Denton Caravan Site, Shamrock Road, Gravesend, and Lees, of London Road, Northfleet, all deny murder and manslaughter.

Jonathan Higgs, prosecuting, said Mr Shaxted, who was 36, took the car belonging to Karen Horlock from her home in Ebbsfleet Walk on December 1, 2007.

He crashed it soon afterwards and then discovered the owner's dog was in the car. Police arrived and Mr Shaxted was breathalysed.

The next evening Alan Burke, who had been staying with the victim, returned to the flat and saw the door had been smashed in.

He went inside and found Mr Shaxted in a terrible state, Mr Higgs told the jury of nine men and three women.

An ambulance was called and he was taken to Darent Valley Hospital.

The next day he made a statement in which he described the beating but said he did not want the police involved and would not support a prosecution because he feared repercussions.

He told how he was pushed into the bathroom and repeatedly punched and kicked by three men. It ended when one of his attackers said: "Come on Billy."

Mr Higgs said Service denied he had ever been to Wallis Park but his palm print was found in Mr Shaxted's bathroom.

Blood spots on a carpet and outside the flat came from Lees, said the prosecutor.

A camouflage jacket Saunders had been wearing contained both his and Mr Shaxted's DNA, he added.

The jury is due to visit the scene of the attack today. The trial continues.