THE final hours of Martin Dines’ life and how the three defendants became involved have been pieced together by the police by trawling through CCTV footage and speaking to witnesses.

Mr Dines – who was a rough sleeper and a heavy drinker – used to beg for money outside the Royal Bank of Scotland, in Head Street, Colchester, and CCTV shows he was sitting there at 8.19pm the night before his body was found.

Nine minutes later – at 8.28pm –Kennedy, Miller and Hartley arrived at the bank’s cash machine and the group of four are seen talking.

But as Kennedy went to the ATM, Miller and Hartley launched the first assault on Mr Dines who was sitting on the floor. The incident lasted roughly three minutes, and Miller and Hartley are seen hugging shortly afterwards.

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By 8.34pm, Mr Dines was with friends Karl Hughes and Lisa Peck outside Fresh Look Barbers, in Crouch Street, when the three approached again.

At this stage he had no visible injuries.

All three are then said to have punched and kicked Mr Dines while accusations were made about his Army history.

During the alleged attack, Kennedy shouted: “How dare you lie about him. He fought for his country.”

The assault was seen by several passersby, one of whom bravely stepped in to protect Mr Dines, but none reported he fought back.

After the initial attack had subsided, Mr Dines bought food from a nearby takeaway which Kennedy promptly threw over him and then punched his friend Ms Peck - an assault she had admitted to.

The attack on Mr Dines - which lasted ten minutes - left him bloodied and he returned to his base outside the bank by 8.52pm while the three defendants went to a Premier shop, in Crouch Street, to buy seven cans of lager between them.

They were put in a blue plastic bag being carried by Kennedy.

Seconds before 11pm, Mr Dines arrived at St Mary’s Car Park where he and other rough sleepers often spent the night.

He was seen by an associate called Philip Spicer who is the last person Mr Dines was seen alive by other than the defendants.

At 11.21pm the group arrived at the car park with Kennedy now wearing a camouflage jacket which Miller previously had on.

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They then went into the same stairwell Mr Dines had entered. But there is no CCTV available until the three are seen leaving the car park, at 1.45am when Kennedy no longer has the bag while Miller is now wearing a red baseball cap and jacket which were previously worn by Hartley.

The court heard tests on all clothes showed degrees of blood splattering consistent with being in close proximity to an attack.