A 51-year-old man brutally killed in Enfield last year was “very, very drunk” on the night of his death.

Phillip Steels, of Burncroft Avenue, in Enfield, was killed in Green Street in the early hours of the September 4. He had received several blows to the head from a brick.

Malachi Lindo, 26, of Bowles Green, Enfield, denies murdering Mr Steels.

This afternoon at the Old Bailey, the court heard that Mr Steels was a “heavy drinker” and was drunk on the night of his death.

Larry Parrott, a friend of Mr Steels, told the court that he had been drinking with the 51-year-old the night before and that he seemed “in good spirits”.

He said: “We would drink pretty much every day, he liked a fair drink. He was in good spirits, he kept stalling to leave, and eventually it took 20 minutes to leave. “

When he was found, Mr Steels was found to be more than three times over the limit to drive a car.

When asked by QC Ian Glen, defending Mr Lindo, whether Mr Steels was a violent man, Mr Parrott said: “He had been confrontational but I had only seen him violent once and that was a scrap in Hertford Road a few weeks before his death.”

The court also learnt that Mr Steels had been in a long-running dispute with a neighbour called Michael Glover who had called the police the previous day after an altercation involving Mr Steels.

Jack Shrimpton, another friend of Mr Steels, also saw him the night before his death and said he was “very, very drunk”.

He said: “I saw him standing next to the wall and I went to get us fish and chips from the shop down the road. He did not come with me, he was too drunk to stand properly.

“We then went to my house, he was arguing with someone and then I asked him to leave. The last time I saw him he had half a red house brick and was running into the park.

“I thought he was going to do something to [Michael] Glover’s car. I was so shocked to hear the next day he had died.”

Tomorrow a pathologist will speak before evidence from the police and a psychologist.

The trial continues.