An army captain saw a defenceless traffic warden beaten unconscious after he tried to slap a ticket on a mourner's car outside a soldier's wake, a court heard today.

Captain Robert Moseley attended the funeral of 21-year-old Lance Corporal James Cartwright on June 27 last year before witnessing the attack outside the Gardeners Arms in Battersea.

The soldier, from the Badger Squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, died in June last year when the vehicle he was driving slid off a bridge into a canal where he was serving in Iraq.

Captain Moseley described to Kingston Crown Court how he had noticed a "scuffle" during the wake and saw traffic warden Syed Jawad Hyder, 38, being attacked by Lee Jones, a cousin of the deceased soldier.

Jones, 23, is said to have battered Mr Hyder around the head and body with his motorcycle helmet after his brother Steven Pratley, 24, allegedly smashed a glass in his face.

Mr Hyder was beaten unconscious and kept in hospital for two days after the attack, the court previously heard.

Giving evidence Captain Moseley said: "We had attended the funeral of James Cartwright at a church in Clapham.

"From the cemetery, we walked down towards James' local pub, the Gardeners Arms.

"We had got a bit lost and were late, and as we were walking down to the pub, we could see a lot of people standing outside and a lot of parked cars and as we got closer we noticed there was some sort of scuffle going on."

He told the jury that he then saw a man - later identified as Mr Hyder - stagger backwards out of the pub and across the road.

He then hit the side of a parked red car and slumped to the ground, the court heard.

Captain Moseley said: "The man was followed by a group of people, and I could hear a woman screaming.

"At this point, I realised it was more serious that I initially thought.

"A crowd began to gather around him and at some point I saw a young lad, about 20-years-old who I had seen earlier in the cemetery, run from the area of the pub across the road carrying a silver or white full-face bike helmet.

"He then proceeded to lift his helmet up and bring it down two or three times.

"I could not see if it made any contact with the man on the ground but in my view, he was hitting him."

The court heard that Jones was then pulled away from Mr Hyder, who was lying on the floor.

Captain Moseley said the traffic warden had blood on his face and he was not moving.

He added that Jones then ran away from the scene and was seen minutes later driving away on his moped, followed on foot by Pratley.

He told the jury that he had not seen Pratley allegedly smash his glass in Mr Hyder's face.

Mr Hyder had been on patrol outside the Gardeners Arms on the day of the wake when he noticed a car parked on yellow lines outside the pub.

Prosecutor Kate Blumgart told the court yesterday how Pratley struck Mr Hyder with a glass after he had asked whose car it was.

She said Jones then ran over and attacked the warden with a motorcycle helmet.

Mr Hyder fell to the floor and the attack continued and he was punched and kicked until he lost consciousness, the jury heard.

The brothers, both of Waterfall Terrace, Tooting, deny causing Mr Hyder actual bodily harm.

The trial continues.