A CAB driver from Bury was brutally murdered over a £2 taxi fare, a jury was told.

Father of four Tariq Javed was dragged from his car during a row over the money and killed in a "vicious, cowardly and disgraceful" attack.

As he lay defenceless and screaming in the road he was punched, kicked and stamped on before his taxi was stolen and reversed over his unconscious body.

Witnesses at the scene thought, wrongly, that the cab had been run over his head and body but he may have been dragged along under the car, said prosecutor Anthony Gee QC, at Manchester Crown Court.

The taxi then sped off and the fare dodgers, who witnesses thought were laughing, smashed their way through a barrier at a hospital car park before the vehicle was set on fire and abandoned.

Police and paramedics rushed to the scene of the attack in Bury but 46-year-old Mr Javed was already dead.

A post-mortem examination revealed he had severe injuries, including skull fractures and injuries to his face, and ribs were consistent with kicking and stamping.

A police hunt was launched and three men, Mark Baker, who had been celebrating his 21st birthday on the day of the attack, Jason Power and teenager David Hawkins, were arrested.

Baker, of Kingfisher Drive, Bury, and 30-year-old Power of Cheltenham Road, Manchester, deny murdering Mr Javed.

All three defendants deny robbing him of his Toyota Carina car and his coat.

Mr Gee alleged the three men were celebrating Baker's birthday at pub in Bury before getting into Mr Javed's taxi but during the journey decided to run off without paying the £2 fare.

When the cab stopped a row started and Mr Javed, it is alleged, was punched and dragged from the car before being brutally beaten and kicked by Baker and Power.

Both men then got back in the cab and together with Hawkins, started to drive off. A witness at the scene shouted to Baker because she thought the vehicle would go over Mr Javed's body, but Baker told her "shut your mouth".

The cab drove off but there was no evidence the wheels had hit Mr Javed's head or body although the cab may have gone over one of his legs, said Mr Gee.

The taxi was then driven into the car park of Bury's Fairfield Hospital where it was set on fire and all three defendants fled but were arrested within days.

More details tomorrow