Shoes found at suspect's Tipton home linked to scene

Police seized the pair of Vans trainers from Dominic Santos Fraser's home in Highfield Road, Tipton, after he was arrested following Kevin Hadley's death.

They were examined by forensic scientist Nigel Lowe.

Mr Lowe was also shown CCTV footage of someone appearing to stamp on Mr Hadley on the ground inside The Lounge Bar in Market Place, Tipton.

Giving evidence at the murder trial yesterday, Mr Lowe said the marks on the soles of the size nine trainers 'had a correspondence' to a cheek injury suffered by Mr Hadley during the attack that killed him.

But he said it could not be certain it was that specific pair of trainers that caused the damage.

"My opinion is that the shoes from number 79 Highfield Road could have made the marks on the victim's face," said Mr Lowe.

"They could equally have been made by another shoe having the same sole pattern."

The jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court was also read out a summary of seven interviews police conducted with Fraser after he was arrested.

In these, the defendant admitted being at The Lounge Bar on the night of the fight but said he was not there when it started.

He said he decided to leave when 'it got heated' and described how he could feel 'the tension in the air'.

He said he saw two white men – one young 'chubby' man wearing a cap and another man in his early 40s –approach another group of men and there was 'shouting and stuff'.

"I did not throw any hits but I could tell it was on the brink," he told the officer.

He said he was unable to hear what had been said between the two men and the group from where he was standing.

"There was a group of people there, people crowding round and stuff," said Fraser during one of the interviews. "Someone was trying to separate it kind of thing. You know, stop the argument going on. But it was none of my business."

Dominic Santos Fraser, aged 32, of Highfield Road, Tipton, denies murdering Mr Hadley, 30, and assaulting Mr Hadley's father causing him actual bodily harm on October 16 last year.

Wolverhampton Crown Court has previously heard how Mr Hadley suffered 26 external injuries, serious internal abdominal bruising and head injuries during the fight.

The prosecution has said Mr Hadley and his father had been drinking in Tipton and West Bromwich before the incident. An altercation then occurred between Mr Hadley and a friend of Fraser's and a stool and pool cue were used as weapons.

Mr Gordon Aspden, prosecuting, has already told the jury how Fraser allegedly launched two 'penalty kick' style attacks on the head of Mr Had-ley's unconscious father, also called Kevin Hadley, during the same incident. The trial continues.