A pub goer on trial accused of killing a grandfather with a single punch was like a 'coiled spring' in the lead up to the attack, a court heard. 

Nathan Gothard, 37, is said to have hit David Darke 'so hard that he killed him' to 'save his own face' after losing a fight outside a village pub. 

Jurors have been told Gothard wanted 'revenge' after he was earlier knocked to the ground outside The Crown Inn in Appleby Magna, Leicestershire. 

Mr Darke, who had tried to help Gothard back to his feet after the initial fight, fell to backwards after he was punched, banging his head on the ground. 

He suffered a fractured skull and bleed on the brain and died in hospital days later on December 27.

Gothard, who denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, had been in the pub, which is just yards from his home, since 4pm that day. 

Mr Darke arrived later with a group of colleagues from a nearby Best Western hotel. 

Jurors have been told that Gothard started behaving inappropriately, making unwelcome advances and remarks to women in the Best Western group, and made it clear to them 'it was his terrain - they were in his pub'. 

The court heard the atmosphere was 'menacing, threatening, argumentative and disputing' because of Gothard's behaviour.  

Ben Milner, the partner of the pub's landlady, said he had tried to calm Gothard down and had taken him outside. 

He said he had been 'trying to reason with him to get him to go' home but Gothard refused.  

Giving evidence at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday, Mr Milner said the Best Western Group had 'wound up' Gothard, a regular at the pub. 

He said: 'I heard a lot of two and fro.

'They were winding him up. I tried to stay out of it at first...I just tried to defuse it by separating Nathan from the group.

'I think he was wound up anyway - he was like a coiled spring at that point, he had been wound up for a while prior to that.'

The Best Western group then left the pub. Jurors were show CCTV of Gothard being knocked to the ground and kicked by one of them called Ty Fern. 

Mr Milner said: 'I remember Nathan ending up on the floor at some point.'

He said he did not see Mr Darke get punched a short time later as people were standing in front of him.  

'I heard him hit the ground and at that point I heard people at the party panicking and screaming,' he said. 

'He had grabbed Nathan before that. He ran up to Nathan and grabbed him first.'

Landlady Abigail Sharpe said Gothard had earlier tried to buy one of the women in the group a drink but she had declined and his offer was not well received. 

The trial, due to last seven days, continues.