A MAN accused of punching and kicking a man to death was not able to exercise self control because of his addiction to alcohol, a court heard.

Steven Keeble, 37, of Moss Close, Vange, is standing trial at Basildon Crown Court charged with the murder of 49-year-old John Masser, from Vange.

Yesterday the court heard evidence from two psychologists who interviewed Keeble after his arrest.

Doctor David Ho, who was called to give medical evidence on behalf of the defence of Keeble, said he believed that Keeble was suffering from Alcohol Dependency Syndrome at the time of the attack.

He said: “I think that Steve Keeble suffered from Alcohol Dependency Syndrome and that this resulted in an abnormal mental function, therefore that substantially impaired his ability to form reasonable judgement and self control.”

The doctor said that he thinks due to this that a defence of diminished responsibility would be available to the defendant during the trial.

He said that Keeble suffered from memory loss and confusion.

Prosecuting barrister, Amjad Malik QC, disputed that Keeble’s alcoholism prevented him from forming reasonable judgement and self control.

Philip Joseph, also a psychologist gave evidence for the prosecution and said he could not be sure Keeble’s Alcohol Dependency Syndrome substantially impaired the ability to form reasonable judgement and self control.

The court heard that Mr Masser was punched, kicked and stamped on on October 1, 2017.

Mr Masser was rushed to Basildon Hospital and the prosecution previously said he was able to tell the police that Keeble had attacked him before he deteriorated two days later.

He died on October 3 after critical care was withdrawn.

The courts previously heard that Keeble beat Masser because he believed that Masser was a sexual predator and because he had “an intense dislike” of him, however it was heard in court yesterday that Keeble told doctors Masser had in fact called him a rapist and he reacted to that by punching him.

The court also heard that Keeble had drunk about three litres of cider on the day of the attack and that he had also taken cocaine and cannabis during the day.

The court heard that Keeblehad tried to get himself sectioned under the Mental Health Act on the day of Keeble’s death but was arrested by Essex Police.

The trial continues