THE mother of shot Reece James told police he had fought two men who climbed in through a window, a court heard today.

Michelle James, of Wembley, told police in two statements following her son's death at a Boscombe flat that he had been shot following the struggle.

Mrs James, who wept in the witness stand, said she was told about the struggle by Mr James's best friend, Tyrone Downer, also known as TJ, who was with him on the night he died.

When questioned by David Nathan, representing 33-year-old defendant Wayne Stephenson, Mrs James said she was told Mr Downer had awoken to see three men, and there was a fight, during which a gun was seen.

Mr Nathan asked Mrs James if she had told police "that TJ heard a bang and saw feet coming through the window?"

She replied: "Yes."

Mr Nathan said: "[Did you tell police that] Reece was fighting two of them and his clothing was being pulled off? Then TJ said he had seen a gun? TJ grabbed it but they managed to pull it away."

Mrs James told the court she remembered the conversation "clearly".

The court also heard from David Aston, known as Stutter.

The 27-year-old, who moved in Boscombe in January last year, went to the flat where Mr James died minutes after he was shot.

However, despite evidence from Dorset Police, he said he didn't go through the cupboard in the master bedroom moments before officers arrived.

Mr Nathan, who cross examined the witness, said: "When police arrived they heard a racket coming from the bedroom and then they stopped you.

"What were you doing in the bedroom? Someone was ransacking cupboards."

He suggested Mr Aston, who left before the ambulance arrived, was trying to find something.

"Was it a gun? Was it ammunition?" he asked.

However, Mr Aston said the only reason he went to the flat was to see Mr James, who he had known for around five years.

Kieron Wellington, 29, and Terri-Lea Campbell, 22, of Durley Gardens, Bournemouth, and Wayne Stephenson, 33, of Byron Court, East Dulwich, Keifer Hutchinson, 22, of Manaton Close, Peckham, and Jarome Parkinson, 24, of Dover Road, Folkestone, deny murdering Mr James at a flat in Roumelia Lane in the early hours of July 25 last year.

The trial continues.