A MAN was seen grappling with a man who was holding what looked like a gun moments before he was fatally shot, a court heard.

Witness Ryan Condick told Bristol Crown Court he was disturbed by two voices at 11.30pm on December 21 last year and he looked out of his bedroom window to see Shaun Godfrey walking along Pavey Road in Hartcliffe.

Mr Condick said: "He was crossing Briscoes Avenue. He got about halfway, stopped, looked down Briscoes Avenue and remained standing for just a few seconds.

"Someone came round towards him from Briscoes Avenue, he had a dark, hooded top on, he went towards Mr Godfrey and he was carrying something long in his right hand."

It is alleged father-of-three Mr Godfrey was shot through the heart after a gang of men ambushed him on his way home from the Fulford House pub.

Three men deny murder and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of unlawful violence.

They are: Michael Hodge, aged 20, of Fulford Road; Mark Starr, 20, whose address has been withheld by court order; Nathan Sargent, 24, of Linton Road in Bedminster.

The fourth man, Jason Williams, 18, of Whitland Road, Hartcliffe, faces the same charges but due to his learning disability has been deemed unfit to stand trial, requiring the jury just to be asked if he did the alleged acts.

Mr Condick said that initially the hooded man who approached Mr Godfrey carried the long object down by his side but then raised it above his head.

He told the court: "It looked like he went to hit him. Shaun Godfrey grabbed his arm and sort of wrestled him to the floor.

"As he went down the man dropped the object to the side of him and landed on his hands and knees.

"Shaun Godfrey sort of turned round and went to run down Pavey Road. He stumbled and fell over and I thought maybe he was a bit drunk.

"As Shaun ran off and fell over the hooded man got up and was joined by three other men from Briscoes Avenue."

Mr Condick told the court that Mr Godfrey stumbled in the middle of the junction of Pavey Road and Pavey Close and the four men went towards him.

He said at that time he panicked because he thought someone was going to get hurt and he looked for his mobile phone so he could call the police.

After being away from his window for only seconds he looked outside again and saw Mr Godfrey running down the road.

He said the four men just watched him and then walked quickly off down Pavey Close into the park at the end.

He told the court: "I heard one of them say 'get the gun'."

Mr Condick added that he then saw Mr Godfrey on the pavement being helped by a man and then he saw ambulance and police officers arrive at the scene.

Mr Condick's partner, Leanne Morse, told the court she too heard the words "get the gun" from one of the men who had approached Mr Godfrey.

She said she saw one of the men with a shiny object that appeared to be about a foot long and an inch to an inch-and-a-half thick.

The case continues.