A man who discovered his friend beaten to death in the porch of a village church says he has only recently come to terms with the tragedy.

Brian Ledger found Trevor Hillman as he opened St Peter and St Paul church in Headcorn in October.

Homeless Ruslan Piktorov, 40, was last month jailed for a minimum of 18 years after pleading guilty to murder.

Piktorov landed more than 70 blows and strangled Mr Hillman with his own belt in a savage and unprovoked hour-long attack.

Last week it was announced his sentence may be extended at London's Court of Appeal next month.

Mr Ledger, who was due to appear as a witness in Piktorov’s trial before the Lithuanian changed his plea, said: “I think my brain stopped me seeing the full horror of it all. I locked the church and ran for help as I don’t have a mobile phone.

“After hearing the full scale of what happened to Trevor at the hearing I found it very difficult to sleep for weeks, but I am now able to talk about it.

“Nothing will bring Trevor back, but at least his killer is behind bars where he can’t hurt anyone else.”

The 72-year-old is now planning to cycle 160 miles over four days in memory of Mr Hillman, 57, who slept rough in the area for most of his life and was befriended by Mr Ledger over three years.

The former village postman, of Ulcombe Road, will set off from the High Street church on the morning of Monday, June 15.

He will visit all 21 of the St Peter and St Paul churches in the Canterbury diocese on the trip, which aims to is raise money for homelessness charity, Porchlight.

He said: “Trevor was incredibly generous, would help out where he could and didn’t fit any of the stereotypes people might have about homeless people.

“He chose that lifestyle and in many ways I envied him and the fact he could go wherever he wanted.

“In the end I think it was his generosity that led to his death. I think people took advantage of him because he had money and he fell in with a bad crowd.

“Sometimes when I open the church I look at the spot where I found Trevor and wish him a good morning.”

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