AN innocent pensioner shot dead in a pub had told his daughter days earlier that he was planning to find another local because the prices were getting too expensive for him.
Fred Fowler died when two gunmen burst into the Tap and Barrel, in Hendon, Sunderland.
Robert Fox, 37, is charged with murdering 72-year-old Fowler and causing grievous bodily harm to Michael Nixon, in the pub in July 2004.
Reading a statement yesterday from Mr Fowler's daughter, Patricia Anderson, Toby Hedworth QC, prosecuting, told the jury at Newcastle Crown Court that Mr Fowler was well-liked and respected.
Ms Anderson said: "A couple of weeks before his death, dad told me he was going to stop going into the Tap and Barrel because the price of beer was going up."
It is alleged Mr Fox took part in the shootings with the intention of killing Alan Miller, one of three brothers he had had a long-running dispute with.
Mr Fox, of Harold Square, Hendon, denies murder, attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and two charges of possessing a firearm.
The trial continues.
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