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Murder accused 'confessed' how he tortured teen

One of the accused in the Simon Everitt murder trial confessed how he tortured and killed the teenager, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Martin Lakin, ex-boyfriend of co-defendant Maria Chandler, told the jury how he visited Chandler's house the day after Mr Everitt's disappearance on June 7, and saw Jonathan Clarke, known as "Munch", cleaning her car.

When Mr Lakin asked his partner what was happening, Chandler said: "You don't want to know, ask Munch." To the same question, Clarke answered: "You want to know it all? If I tell you, you will be involved in it."

Mr Lakin recalled: "He [Munch] said Simon was on his bike with Jimi, they got as far as a lay-by and Jimi hit Simon with something.

"Jimi and Munch put him in the car a drove off. Maria was driving to somewhere in the woods outside Yarmouth, and when they got there Maria was told to stay in the car.

"Simon asked Munch 'are you going to kill me?' and he didn't answer. He said he tied him to a tree, Jimi poured petrol all over Simon and made him drink it. Munch said he struck a match."

Mr Lakin said of Clarke's confession: "It was like he had no care in the world, like he was Mr Hard Man; it made me feel sick."

Chandler's former partner added Maria had said to him she could hear Mr Everitt, who was 17 when he disappeared, screaming from the car and ran towards the woods, but was told to stay back.

Mr Lakin added: "Munch said the rope he tied him up with had burnt and Simon fell down onto his front. That was when they started to walk away."

Jurors had already heard Mr Everitt, Clarke and third defendant, Jimi-Lee Stewart, had fallen out after dating the same woman, Fiona Statham.

Mr Everitt's body was found dumped in a swamp near Mautby Woods, outside Yarmouth. A post-mortem suggested he had been tied to a tree, doused in petrol and set on fire.

Earlier in day four of the trial, a 15-year-old - who cannot be named for legal reasons - told the court how Clarke had bragged to friends he had "tortured, killed and buried" Everitt, from Yarmouth.

Clarke, 19, from Telford, 25-year-old Stewart, of Nelson Road Central, Yarmouth, and Maria Chandler, 40, of Lancaster Road, Yarmouth, all deny murder.




How sick are these people? This lad's family were asking people to look out for Simon in and around Yarmouth as he was missing, how awful for them to have to learn what happened to him.

Rest in Peace, Simon

Lizx

Rest in Peace Simon.

The rest Burn in Hell.

What goes round, comes round, and i hope that it does.

Lily.

I don't know how they can live with what they have done, let alone bragging about it, it seems one lad had seen a film of similar actions and said he wondered what it would be like to do that to someone. I don't understand how anyone can watch such films with awful violence and cruelty in, but many people seem to enjoy them, I think they are sick.

Lizx