‘Footie yobs booted me as I helped my beaten brother‘

THE brother of the Liverpool fan who was seriously injured before a Champions League semi-final has told a court he was kicked as he tended to him.

Martin and Sean Cox were set on by a group near Anfield. Martin, 46, told Preston crown court yesterday: “We heard noises. People in dark clothes, chanting.

“I turned to Sean as if to say, ‘Let’s get out of here’, but Sean ACCUSED Filippo Lombardi was lying on the ground. I bent down to Sean and I could feel a kick on the back.” Sean, 53, a dad of three who had travelled from Co Meath, Ireland, has been in hospital since the attack on April 24, when Liverpool beat Roma 5-2. He still cannot speak or sit up properly. Filippo Lombardi, 21, from Rome, Italy, denies inflicting grievous bodily harm in a joint attack, but admits another charge of violent disorder. The trial continues next week.