A man who fatally punched a pub owner has denied another member of his group tried to help him evade police in the hours after the attack.

Stafford Crown Court heard Billy Allison, 36, fled the Ricco and Loren bar in Lichfield after punching 44-year-old Matthew O'Gara, who later died from his injuries, and another man, Adam Cooper, 62.

Allison was later seen swapping shirts with another man, Ben Cullen, before the pair went to the hotel where Cullen was staying.

Allison, of Cropthorne Road in Shirley, Solihull, denies O'Gara's murder and section 18 grievous bodily harm with intent to Cooper, but admits alternative charges of manslaughter and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

O'Gara died after being punched in the neck on the dancefloor of the bar.

Prosecutors allege Allison delivered a "very, very hard" punch with the "stance and skill of an experienced fighter" to O'Gara on the night of 24 May this year.

Cooper suffered a fractured eye socket and nose after he too was punched.

After the attack, while O'Gara was unconscious and being treated by bar staff, the court was told Allison was seen leaving through a back gate.

He had been out with his girlfriend Charlotte Dean, plus Ryan Bridge and Ben Cullen and their partners.

After leaving the bar with Cullen, the court heard the pair were seen on camera swapping shirts in the street, with Allison covering his face at one point.

Jurors heard the pair were next seen on CCTV at around 01:00 in parkland on the edge of the city centre before later reappearing at the Cathedral Hotel in Beacon Street.

Allison had been due to stay at a B&B elsewhere in Lichfield.

When he was later arrested in Cullen's room he was still wearing Cullen's shirt.

Prosecution counsel Timothy Hannam KC asked the defendant if it had been the plan to hide out at the hotel, but that was denied by Allison.

He also denied he was friends with Cullen and described him as an acquaintance he knew through Bridge.

Hannam asked the defendant why Cullen had followed him out of Ricco and Loren after the fatal incident.

"That's a question you would have to ask him, I don't know why he followed me," Allison said.

Asked why Allison put Cullen's top over his face, he said: "I think I was trying to hide my identity", but he said he could not recall what was said between the pair before that happened.

Allison also said he had tried to get back to his own room, but went to Cullen's hotel because he was too drunk to find it and "gave up".

He denied having planned to stay elsewhere to avoid being found by police.

The defendant was then asked why he did not phone the police himself after he left the bar. He replied: "I was scared… I'd been informed Mr O'Gara was in a pretty bad condition and I was scared and upset."

Hannam said: "You weren't concerned about him, you were concerned about you, weren't you?"

Allison replied: "I was very concerned… I was also concerned about my family and how it would affect them, yes."

The trial continues.

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