Two men accused of assassinating a Brighton landlord were seen on the day of the murder with fresh burns, a court was told.

David Croke, 59, of Bolney Road, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, and Robert Knapp are accused of murdering Mohammed Sabir Raja dressed as jobbing gardeners.

An Old Bailey jury heard they were paid by millionaire property tycoon Nicholas Hoogstraten, 57, to murder Mr Raja at his Surrey home.

David Waters, prosecuting, said they shot and stabbed him before fleeing in their truck which was emblazoned with the words "Thunderbird 2". It was later found burnt out and Mr Waters said theirburns could have been caused by torching the van.

Mr Waters said shortly after the murder the pair arrived at the home of Doreen Tom, a friend of Knapp for ten years, in Crayford, Kent.

He told the court: "When Knapp and Croke arrived Mrs Tom noticed that they both had fresh burns. So fresh they were blistered and red.

"Knapp had a burn on his forearm and Croke on his chest. Both also smelled of singed hair."

Mr Waters told the jury Mrs Tom said: "You did not get that lighting a bonfire."

Mr Waters said Knapp, 53, of Convent Street, Abbeyfeale, County Limerick, referred to Hoogstraten as his "millionaire friend".

Knapp's mother lived on Hoogstraten's estate at Framfield, near Uckfield.

Police found unusual German compost bags in garages by his mother's house that matched a bag found in the burnt-out wreck of the van.

Yesterday the court heard Hoogstraten had been accused of fraud in a fall-out with Mr Raja, who was stabbed five times and shot in the face in front of two gransons in July 1999.

Mr Water said before he died, Mr Raja's two grandsons heard him say: "These are Hoogstraten's men."

Hoogstraten, Croke and Knapp all deny murder. Hoogstraten also denies conspiracy to murder. The case continues.