A DISABLED Bromsgrove man died from head injuries after he was attacked for money to buy drugs, a murder trial was told this week.

Andrew Lammas, aged 44, who suffered from curvature of the spine and arthritis, was found unconscious yards from his home in Austin Road, Charford.

He was kicked or punched by 34-year-old Andrew Edwards, also of Austin Road, for cash to buy drugs, James Burbridge, QC, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court.

A bogus alibi was then constructed for Edwards, who denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

His landlady, Rebecca Taylor, told the court Edwards confessed to her after rumours ran rife in Charford.

"I asked him why did he go for a disabled man who couldn't fight back," she told the jury. "He wasn't bothered, he was off his head on drugs. He said he followed him back from the Sugarbrook pub because he had medication, a mobile phone and money. He went for him and gave him a battering and left him in the bushes."

She said a neighbour in nearby flats heard the victim "howling like a dog" and it scared Edwards off empty-handed.

A 17-year-old youth told the court he saw Edwards a few hours before Mr Lammas was attacked just after midnight on June 22 last year.

"He was rattling, he needed drugs - heroin," the youth said.

Mr Lammas had been given a lift to the home he shared with his mother. He suffered bleeding in his brain and a fractured skull and was never able to tell hospital doctors who had attacked him, Mr Burbridge said. His life support machine was switched off after ten days.

Edwards, Wayne Goddard, aged 29, also of Austin Road, and Edwards' sister Stephanie Hughes, 24, of Oak Apple Road, Catshill, deny conspiring to pervert the course of justice by concocting a false alibi.

Edwards and Ryan Irish, aged 19, of Humphrey Avenue, also deny witness intimidation. Mr Burbridge said they went to Miss Taylor's to "shut her mouth" and threatened to smash up her home.

Patrick Thomas, QC, for Edwards, accused Miss Taylor of being affected by a heavy drink habit and telling lies to police.

She stood by her version of Edwards' confession and said she had been given police protection, living in hotels, and her home in Bishop Hall Crescent had been repossessed.