Young man 'tortured to death with broken bottles and knives by three men and a woman who stole his PIN number and withdrew just £20'

Jamie Dack, 22, was lured to a Southampton squat by the gang where he was beaten with a rounders bat for his bank card and PIN number

The gang later returned and tortured Mr Dack to death with knives and broken glass, court told

Donna Chalk, 21, Ryan Woodmansey, 32, Lee Nicholls, 28, and Andrew Dwyer-Skeats, 26, all deny murdering Mr Dack on April 6



A man was beaten with a rounders bat for his bank card and laptop before being 'slowly tortured to death' with knives and broken bottles, dumped in a wheelie bin and set on fire, a court heard.

'Vulnerable' Jamie Dack, 22, was lured to a squat in Southampton and beaten by three men and a woman who stole his debit card and PIN number and used them to withdraw just £20 to fund a night out.

The 'cold-blooded' gang - afraid their victim would go to the police - kept him in the flat overnight where they later tortured him to death over several hours using broken glass and kitchen knives, before setting his body alight in a prolonged and 'positively chilling' attack, Winchester Crown Court was told.

Victim: Two police officers in a patrol car failed to notice the lifeless body of Jamie Dack (pictured), who had been repeatedly stabbed and beaten with a rounders bat in Southampton, Hampshire, in April, a court heard

Mr Dack's body was found in a metal waste bin in on an industrial estate in Southampton on Easter Sunday.

A post-mortem examination revealed he had been stabbed several times in the neck, shoulder, chest, stomach and leg, but his body was so badly burned the true extent of his injuries will never be known, the court heard.

Donna Chalk, 21, Ryan Woodmansey, 32, Lee Nicholls, 28, and Andrew Dwyer-Skeats, 26, all deny murdering the 22-year-old on April 6.

The jury at Winchester Crown Court was told the Southampton flat where the alleged murder took place was being used as a squat by Chalk and her boyfriend Dwyer-Skeats, who Mr Dack had got to know while living in the city.

Investigation: Firefighters found Mr Dack's badly burned remains when they were called to put out a fire at the Southampton industrial estate

Prosecutor Christopher Parker QC said the defendants had targeted the 22-year-old's bank card and laptop after meeting up with him on Thursday April 5, to help fund a planned night out at a rave in Bournemouth.



'Mr Dack was beaten up in the bedroom with a rounders bat and his debit card was stolen from him and taken to a cash machine. Woodmansey got £20 from the machine,' Mr Parker said.



'Overnight, Mr Dack was kept in the flat and was never to leave it alive again.'

'On the Friday, he was left in the flat probably bound and gagged. These four defendants went out and sold his laptop.



'What happened next in cold blood is they tortured him to death in the kitchen of the flat using fists and feet, stabbing him with broken bottles and kitchen knives - altogether as a group.



'Not everybody necessarily wielding the bottle, not everybody necessarily wielding the knife, but those who did not deliberately encouraged those who carried out the fatal killing,' the barrister said.



The next day the gang 'regrouped' and allegedly wheeled Mr Dack and a blood-soaked carpet through the streets in wheelie bins before finding the metal bin on an industrial estate, dousing his body in petrol and setting it alight.



It was done to 'systematically' try to hide what they had done, the prosecutor told the jury.

Mr Dack knew the four and had been attacked by one of them the previous month over unfounded claims he had been a 'sex pest' to a girl, the court heard.



Mr Parker went on: 'We say that each of these defendants, in each of his or her own way, was involved in that joint enterprise killing of Jamie.



'By their actions, or by their encouragement, they took part in a vicious and degrading attack on a young, vulnerable victim.'

Firefighters found the badly burned remains when they were called to put out the fire in the early hours of April 8.

Chalk also denies perverting the course of justice by disposing of the body and setting it alight.



The jury was told that the three men have pleaded guilty to the charge of perverting the course of justice.



The trial is expected to last seven weeks.

Police tape: Mr Dack's body was dumped in a wheelie bin, doused with petrol and set on fire, a court heard







