AN INQUEST into the mysterious death of ex-Knutsford pub landlord Dave Edwards was sensationally adjourned on Friday.

Coroner John Hibbert postponed the hearing after last-minute medical evidence came to light.

Mr Edwards' family claim they now have proof that he was beaten up before he died five years ago.

Earlier, the family had heard vital evidence from Mr Edwards' workmate Michael Christie, who was with Mr Edwards in St Petersburg when he died.

Mr Christie was badly injured by the police car, which knocked down and killed his colleague.

But on Friday he told Warrington coroner's court that he disputed evidence given by the Russian police.

His evidence will be crucial to the inconsistencies in the original investigation which cleared the 22-year-old police driver.

Police claimed Mr Edwards was drunk and that he was mown down on Nevsky Prospect - one of the city's fastest and busiest arteries - outside Dominico's, a nightclub they'd planned to visit.

But on Friday, Mr Christie, who said he remembered little about the incident, again insisted they were knocked down in a quiet side street.

Even more sensationally he claimed it was a one-way street - and the police car was travelling down it the wrong way.

He also insisted

they had been hit about 1am - not at 2.10am as stated by the Russian police.

"Apart from that all I recall is the sound of a car coming at high speed behind us and a set of headlights," he said.

He said he found it hard to believe that if they had been hit outside Dominico's nightclub that none of their friends would have come to their aid.

The inquest was adjourned until November for all the evidence to be considered.

Mrs Edwards has always believed that her husband, who was working in St Petersbury for British Gas, was murdered as part of a dispute over protection rackets.

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