A MAN charged with murdering his former football team-mate was having a relationship with his wife, a court heard.

Kevin Monteith’s battered body was found face down outside his home.

Liverpool Crown Court yesterday heard Stephen Keogh, who is accused of carrying out the fatal attack, had been having a secret relationship with Mr Monteith’s wife, Anne, for nearly 18 months. Keogh, 44, had left a local pub 16 minutes after father-of-three Mr Monteith, 42, and prosecutors allege he must have followed him to his Holt Lane home, Rainhill.

A watch stained with blood was later discovered in Keogh’s home. Experts rule there is a one-in-a-billion chance the blood could have matched anyone unrelated to Mr Monteith.

Keogh, of Lyme Cross Road, Huyton, denies murder.

Mr Monteith’s body was found by his son, Robert, who cradled him in his arms until paramedics arrived.

A forensic examination revealed he had been hit at least four times to the head with a blunt object.

Keogh was questioned and insisted he had gone straight to his son’s home.