The Cooper twins were beaten in a vicious baseball bat attack after visiting an illegal gambling den, the first day of their murder trial heard.

Defendant Kenneth Burgess launched the violent assault while co-accused Dennis Alma Robinson stood guard on the door to prevent the brothers fleeing, a court was told.

Eyewitness Gladwyn Cann, a close friend of the twins, said Burgess had accused the brothers of robbing and beating his father before the violence flared.

He said he saw Burgess punch Jahmil in the face with his fist, in a blow that forced him to stumble into a corner and left him dazed.

The defendant then switched his attention to Jahmal, the court heard, pinning him against a wall before punching him in the face.

Prosecutors said the twins, who had been expecting a lift to the former Ambassadors nightclub, had instead been driven to Burgess' house in the early hours of March 13, last year.

They were not seen alive after that date, the court heard.

Mr. Cann said the twins were picked up after leaving an Elliott Street gambling den, which the court heard was allegedly operated by Burgess, before they were driven to the property on Crown Hill Lane. Five men, including Burgess and Jahmil, got into a Burgess' green jeep while Jahmal and Mr. Cann got into Robinson's white van.

When they arrived at Crown Hill Lane, Mr. Cann said Burgess called the twins over ? at first putting his arms around their shoulders.

But then he "got serious" and tightened his grip, the witness added, putting the pair in a headlock before forcing them downstairs into the apartment and attacking them.

Scared, Mr. Cann asked Burgess to stop. But he said the defendant replied: "It's nothing to do with you so just get away", then forced him out of the door.The witness said he listened at the door and heard Jahmal asking why he had been beaten and denying he had robbed Burgess' "old man".

Crown counsel Paula Tyndale asked Mr. Cann what he saw when he later ran around the side of the house and looked in from a window for just over a minute. The witness said he saw Burgess hitting Jahmal, who was trying to escape. He then said he heard Burgess ask Robinson to "go see where the f*cker" went, in a reference to Mr. Cann leaving the room.

The prosecution version of the Cooper brothers' movements on the night they vanished had earlier been briefly outlined yesterday before a tense Supreme Court.

Vinette Graham-Allen, Director of Public Prosecutions, said that at about midnight on March 12 last year the defendants and the Cooper twins were at Swinging Doors, Court Street. They then moved on to the underworld gambling den, she added, and were taken to Burgess' house.

Mrs. Graham-Allen, opening the prosecution case, said that when at the Crown Hill Lane house Burgess began to punch the twins and hit them with a baseball bat on their bodies.

Police were later informed about their disappearance and a major manhunt was launched. Their bodies were found at Abbot's Cliff, Harrington Sound, about one month after they were reported missing. Earlier, Mrs. Graham-Allen urged the jury of seven women and five men to clear their minds about anything they may know about the high-profile case. She also said jurors should have no sympathy for anyone involved in the proceedings, including the dead twins and their relatives.

Burgess, 33, of Cottage Hill Road, Hamilton Parish, and Robinson, 34, of Palm Valley, Southampton, both deny double murder on March 13, 2005. The trial, being conducted amid tight security at Supreme Court One, is scheduled to last four weeks and is due to continue today.

Proceedings were delayed yesterday when it took more than two hours to select a jury panel in the morning session.