A WITNESS told a jury that he saw a male stamping, as well as kicking, a man lying on the ground in a Blackburn park.

The jury, in the trial of a 16-year-old youth charged with murder, heard the witness claim he had a clear view of the kicking.

Peter Birkett QC, defence leading counsel for the youth, who denies murder, told the man giving evidence at Preston Crown Court the teenager accepted being involved in kicking a man on the ground, but disputed that he stamped on his head at any point.

The man responded: “I hear what you say, I saw him stamping.”

The defendant denies murdering Christopher Folkes, 36, who was subjected to violence in Queens Park while on his way to see his mum.

He never made it, and died from a head injury.

The same witness also told the court: “I did not see anybody else touch him.”

The court heard that he and his partner had been dog walking in the park on the night of May 30.

His partner then gave evidence to say she had noticed a disturbance, a scuffle between two men, in the park that evening.

One of them ended up on the floor with the other man, an Asian, kicking him.

There were possibly four or five kicks and they were vicious, she said.

She told the court: “I had heard the expression putting the boot in and I think that night I realised what it meant.”

The kicks were delivered to the man’s head. She twice asked the man responsible to stop.

“He stopped what he was doing. He looked at me. He carried on doing what he was doing,” she added.

(Proceeding)