The son of a man killed in an alleged revenge attack told how he arrived back from a night out to find his father lying injured in the doorway of his Great Yarmouth home.

James Flynn said he later received abusive phone calls from one of the alleged attackers, taunting him that his father had 'deserved what he got', Norwich Crown Court heard yesterday.

Archibald Kerr, 52, was found with injuries comparable to those a person would suffer in a 'bad traffic accident' in the hallway of his flat in Deneside, Yarmouth, in the early hours of January 31, and it alleged he was attacked by two men looking to take revenge on his son.

Mr Kerr died two months later at the James Paget University Hospital, in Gorleston, from pneumonia linked to his injuries.

Darren Peake, 37, from Gloucester Avenue, Gorleston, and William Rowley, 37, of Wellington Road, Gorleston, both deny murder.

Giving evidence, Mr Flynn told how he had been drinking with the two defendants earlier that evening.

He said that he knew Peake, but did not know Rowley, whose nickname was 'Wazzo', and they had gone on to a nightclub where he had got involved in a fight with Rowley.

He said Rowley and Peake were made to leave the nightclub straight away and he later left in a taxi to go to his father's address to meet his partner.

But he said that when he arrived at the address, he saw his father lying in the doorway with 'blood all over him'.

His father was taken to hospital and while Mr Kerr was lying unconscious he had then got calls from Rowley taunting him about his father.

'He said he wanted to beat me up. He was screaming and shouting. He said my dad deserved what he got.'

He added: 'He [Rowley] said it was my fault because I had the fight with him. He said I made him do it because he was angry with me.'

He said that Rowley also threatened to rape his partner, slaughter his dog and pour petrol over his father.

He said in one call Rowley said he knew what hospital ward his father was on and claimed he had visited him and could have put his hands round his neck and 'finished the job'.

Mr Flynn said that in another comment, Rowley said that his father should have 'stayed down' and said: 'If he had not tried to get back up, I would not have carried on hitting him.'

Cross-examined by Graham Parkins QC, for Peake, Mr Flynn admitted he had also had one call from Peake in which he said he was sorry about his dad and had blamed Rowley for the attack.'He said Wazzo [Rowley] was the one that had done it'

Cross-examined by Simon Spence, for Rowley, Mr Flynn said he was not mistaken that it was Rowley who had made the abusive calls to his mobile.

Mr Kerr's partner Carla Brooking, told how Mr Kerr had gone to answer the door after hearing a noise as he was expecting his son James to arrive back.

When he did not return, she went to the hallway to investigate and said she saw Mr Kerr lying on the floor and saw a man, who she later said was Peake, leaning over him holding a fire extinguisher. 'He looked up at me. I panicked and I walked backwards and ran back to the flat.'

An ambulance and police were then called to the scene. The trial continues.

christine.cunningham@archant.co.uk