A jury has heard of escalating violence at a men’s hostel in the days before a tenant was allegedly murdered.

Balbir Singh, who lives near to the flats for drink and drug addicts in Thornton Road, Bradford, said her family had suffered a history of noise and alcohol-related incidents.

In a statement read to a murder trial at Bradford Crown Court, Mrs Singh spoke of racial abuse and of beer and cider bottles being flung into her garden.

She described escalating violence at the hostel in July last year, including two men having a drunken argument in the garden.

Between July 24 and 26, Mrs Singh heard fighting inside the building in the early hours, doors slamming and the voices of up to three people.

“It seemed worse than usual,” she told the court.

Mohammed Hafeez, whose family home adjoins the hostel, told the court he heard footsteps after 2am on July 30.

There followed two thuds and “a proper loud banging noise as if something was rolling downstairs and reaching the bottom suddenly”.

Mr Hafeez, who works for window manufacturer Safestyle UK, said the sound was different from any he had previously heard through the hostel wall.

Hostel tenant David Russell said he heard a lot of noise between midnight and 3am on July 30.

There were voices arguing and banging that sounded like objects thrown around the alleged victim’s room.

Adrian Ray, 26, and Kristian Harland, 29, deny murdering hostel tenant Ranjib Bassra, known as Robin, and attempting to pervert the course of public justice.

They are alleged to have beaten to death Mr Bassra, 48, a chronic alcoholic, cleaned and re-dressed him and laid him on his sofa in a sleeping position.

The jury has heard the pair pretended to be shocked and upset when they staged the discovery of Mr Bassra’s body.

He was pronounced dead by paramedics at his ground-floor flat at 2.12pm on July 30.

At that time, Harland lived on the floor above and Ray was lodging with Mr Bassra, the jury has heard.

The trial continues.