A man accused of murdering a homeless alcoholic demonstrated how he had jumped on the victim's head, a court heard.
The man he was telling did not at first believe what Tony Griffiths was saying, even though he pointed to blood on his shoes.
Donal Innes said it "clicked" it might be true when he later saw a police cordon outside Brighton Town Hall.
Terry Hannaby, 34, died after he was kicked and stamped to death in Bartholomew Square.
His body was found under a bloodstained duvet when town hall security staff let in cleaners on September 4 last year.
Griffiths, 33, Andrew Stanley, 40, Gareth Russell, 25, and Declan Mallon, 38, all of no fixed address, deny murder.
Mr Innes said Griffiths, Stanley and a third man with a Liverpool accent turned up at his hostel in Old Steine Mews, Brighton, a few hours after Mr Hannaby died.
He said Stanley and Griffiths were allowed in and went to Room 11 with Stanley's girlfriend, Caroline Bambrick.
Mr Innes told a jury at Hove Crown Court he went to an off-licence to buy some cider and beer and then joined them in the room.
He said: "Tony asked me something like, Did you hear about what happened last night?'.
"Andy said Do you see that blue T-shirt? His face was that colour'.
"Tony got up and said, We was kicking and jumping on his head'.
"He said, Look at this,' and I saw there was blood on his trainers.
"He said there was a fight and he was punching some bloke, kicking and jumping on him and then everyone started piling in."
Mr Innes said Griffiths' girlfriend Denise Ashby came into the room and Griffiths jumped up and down to demonstrate what had happened.
He said he left the hostel and spoke to his partner at the time, a woman named Trudy.
She told him that there was a lot of police activity in Bartholomew Square.
He said he spoke to a policewoman and told her he thought he knew something about what had happened.
Richard Camden Pratt, defending Griffiths, asked Mr Innes to read from the statement he made the next day.
In it he told officers Griffiths had said he punched Mr Hannaby and then the others had joined in Mr Camden Pratt asked: "Did you say Tony said he started punching him and everyone else piled in and that Andy booted him and Declan also booted into him?"
Mr Innes, an alcoholic, replied: "I don't remember."
Mr Hannaby suffered 32 separate blows to the head. A post mortem revealed he died as the result of blows from a shod foot or clenched fist.
Charles Miskin, QC, prosecuting, alleges all four defendants have been linked to the scene of the killing by fingerprint or DNA evidence.
The trial continues.
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