A former Territorial Army soldier told a Court how he tried to revive Kevin Jackson after finding him dying in the street from stab wounds.

Neville Graham, trained in first aid, found him covered in blood in a Halifax street four days after Christmas last year.

Three Bradford men - Rashad Zaman, 20, of Apsley Crescent; Raees Khan, 20, of Priestman Close; and Rangzaib Akhtar, 19, of Salt Street, all Manningham - all deny murder.

Mr Graham told Leeds Crown Court that he put Mr Jackson into the recovery position and cleared his airways.

He said: "It took me a bit of time to get my head around the situation. His face was covered in blood. He was breathing but it was difficult for him. There was no movement from his body or his eyes. I went to see if I could get a response from him. He was just gurgling as if something was stuck in his throat."

Mr Graham came across Mr Jackson as he travelled home after a night out in Halifax.

Earlier, in a statement read to the court, Mr Jackson's wife Julie told of the events leading up to the incident. She had heard a noise outside and spotted someone inside a Toyota RAV 4 owned by her father who lived next door but was away in India at the time.

The court heard how Mrs Jackson woke her husband who was asleep on the settee downstairs at around 2am on December 30 last year.

He chased a number of men away from his home, shouting after them: "You had better be able to run." Mrs Jackson then woke her sister Mandy Fairbank and brother-in-law, Anthony Fairbank who went to look for her husband. She said Mr Fairbank found him lying in the road surrounded by an ambulance crew. Mr Fairbank had earlier had three drinks with Mr Jackson in a local pub.

Dr Noel Woodford, of Halifax Royal Infirmary, who conducted a post mortem examination on Mr Jackson said he had suffered a number of injuries to his head, back and arm, but that he had been killed by a single blow from a blunt instrument which pierced his skull and entered his brain. "I believed this main injury would have brought about an end to Mr Jackson's voluntary movements," he said.

Dr Woodford was shown a 10cm-long screwdriver recovered by the police and agreed it could have caused the injury.

He said other injuries could also have been caused by it.

The trial continues.