A COUPLE'S kiss - in front of an outraged lover - is believed to have sparked off a bloodbath which left an East Lancashire man dead from 34 separate blows.

Victim Steven Sheppard, 47, also suffered seven broken ribs and a punctured lung at the hands of Wayne Mackie and Donna Harrison, a murder trial at Preston Crown Court heard.

Mackie bludgeoned Mr Sheppard with a candlestick and repeatedly stamped on his head and body during a sustained attack on October 9 last year, the court heard.

Harrison is said to have encouraged the violence - and told a friend before the incident that she wanted to stab Mr Sheppard.

Dennis Watson QC, prosecuting, said the motive for the attack, which took place after the trio had been drinking heavily with Mackie's partner Andrea Richardson, was not entirely clear.

But it seems that after Miss Richardson went to bed Mackie and Harrison kissed each other, which Mr Sheppard was likely to have objected to, he said.

Mr Watson said that Miss Richardson was later woken up by the pair, with Mackie telling her: 'He's dead - we killed him.'

Harrison told her that Mr Sheppard deserved it because he was a 'paedo', the court was told.

The claim had been made repeatedly by Harrison to friends, and later to police.

But Mr Watson said Mr Sheppard, of Winewall Lane, Winewall, near Trawden, had no such convictions and was in an on-off sexual relationship with Harrison at the time.

The court heard that Mr Sheppard's body remained in a bloodstained rear living room at Mackie and Miss Richardson's home in Portland Street, Colne, for nearly a day.

Mr Watson said that at one point, outside the town's Co-op store, Harrison was approached by two teenage girls and asked if she was okay.

She is alleged to have replied: "No, I've just murdered someone."

The court heard that Ms Richardson also approached an ex-partner, Dave Thomas, and told them Mr Sheppard's body was in the Portland Street property. His girlfriend then alerted police.

Police could get no reply at the house and forced an entry. Officers found Mr Sheppard's body in a rear room, covered in blood and with severe facial injuries, the court heard.

Near to the body was a bent candlestick. Mackie's boots were recovered from the property and the soles were bloodstained.

Mackie refused to answer police questions when interviewed but has provided a defence statement claiming that Mr Sheppard had attacked him, and he defended himself, but could not recall what he had exactly done.

The court heard he denied causing serious injuries to Mr Sheppard or intending to kill him.

Interviewed at the same time Harrison repeated her claims about Mr Sheppard being a 'paedo' but denied being present when he was attacked.

Mr Watson added: "The prosecution say that Mackie did not act alone - he was encouraged to kill Steven Sheppard by Donna Harrison."

Mackie, 41, of Portland Street, and Harrison, 35, of Beech Street, Padiham, deny murder. The trial continues.