Lee Tuffin, who lives in the area of the Hardwick shops, watched from his home as Mr O'Connor met a stranger in front of the shops, then walked around to the back and got into a white van on April 27 last year.

Mr Tuffin, giving evidence at Ipswich Crown Court, said he looked away from the scene but, the next thing he knew, he heard shouting from Mr O'Connor's 16-year-old friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

"Bill was lying down. His friend came running across shouting 'get some help, get some towels' to put on top of him to stop the bleeding. He was hysterical," said Mr Tuffin.

Tony Holland, 23, of Broadlands, Desborough, in Northamptonshire, is charged with the murder of Mr O'Connor, 20, and Daniel Hathaway, 44, from Corby, in Northamptonshire. He denies both murders.

Today the court heard how Mr Tuffin was waiting for his mother at around midday when he spotted Mr O'Connor looking like he was waiting for someone in the rear car park.

Mr O'Connor walked to the front of the shops, in Home Farm Lane, and then met somebody matching the description of Holland.

The men shook hands and the stranger then put a white envelope in his white Transit van before driving around to the back car park.

Mr Tuffin watched on as Mr O'Connor got into the passenger seat of the van, which he noticed had black tape on its number plates, obscuring some of the numbers.

Not long after he stopped looking out of the window, he heard Mr O'Connor's friend shouting for help.

From his window he also saw the van driving off down Hardwick Lane, in the direction of West Suffolk Hospital.

During an identity parade, Mr Tuffin could not immediately identify the man, believed to be Holland, but returned two days later saying he was 95 per cent sure of who it was.