A ROBBERY victim collapsed and died after walking a mile to a police station to report the crime, a court has heard.

Laurence French, 50, suffered a heart attack after telling officers in Middlesbrough: "I've just been mugged by some men."

Within minutes of arriving at the town's Middlehaven police station last May, he collapsed and never regained consciousness.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court heard from prosecutor Mark Giuliani that Mr French had a previously undiagnosed heart condition.

It is said the stress and anxiety from the robbery - allegedly carried out in his town centre home - induced the fatal attack.

Christopher Dalziell, 39, and 41-year-old Damien Bishop, who both lived nearby, deny robbery, although Bishop admitted theft.

Two men were captured of CCTV walking nine minutes from Apsley Street, where Bishop lived, to Mr French's home in Alwent Road.

There is a three-minute gap - in which, the prosecution says, the attack happened - before the suspects emerge again.

Bishop has confessed to being at the scene and has admitted a charge of manslaughter, which his co-accused Dalziell denies.

Mr Giuliani told the jury that the time of the robbery can be closely pinpointed - thanks to an episode of Coronation Street.

Neighbours heard noises coming from the flat at the same time soap mechanic Tyrone Dobbs crashed his van into the Platt household.

The accident uncovered a long-hidden secret when Callum Logan - killed and buried under an annexe by David Paltt - was found.

Mr Giuliani said the dramatic scene was shown 16 minutes and 30 seconds into the episode on May 25 - at shortly after 9.15pm.

Two figures in dark clothing are seen arriving at Mr French's home at 9.16pm and leaving at 9.19pm, while the victim left at 9.21pm.

Mr French arrived at the police station at 9.30pm and was said to be "agitated", waving around his hat, and struggling to speak.

He reported that he had stolen from him a jacket, his wallet, money, personal documents, a sentimental ring and more jewellery.

Footage taken by a police officer on a body-cam at Mr French's home showed there had been a disturbance, said Mr Giuliani.

There was a television, still switched on, and an upturned shopping trolley on the floor, alongside other items, the jury heard.

Pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton carried out a post-mortem examination and concluded that stress from the crime caused the attack.

Mr Giuliani said: "The doctor conclude Mr French's death can be attributed to his pre-existing, yet undiagnosed, heart disease, facilitated by an episode of stress.

"He would not have died at the time at which he did with the cause of which he died were it not for the stressful events in the minutes leading up to it."

Dalziell, of Aire Street, and Bishop, of Apsley Street, face a trial which is expected to last for seven days.