Simon Everitt

A crown court jury has visited the site in Norfolk where a teenage student was tied to a tree, doused with petrol and set on fire by three alleged killers, one of them a Shropshire man.

Jonathan Clarke, 19, of Queen Elizabeth Way, Malinslee, Telford, Jimi-Lee Stewart, 25, and Maria Chandler, 40, both of Yarmouth, all deny murdering 17-year-old Simon Everitt.

The Norwich Crown Court jury visited the site yesterday.

His body was found dumped in a swamp near Mautby Woods outside Yarmouth, in June last year.

A post-mortem examination suggested he had been tied to a tree, doused with petrol and set on fire.

Jurors have heard that Mr Everitt, Clarke and Stewart had fallen out after they all dated the same girl, Fiona Statham, who had been “playing them off” against each other.

Mr Everitt was still alive when he was set alight, prosecutor Karim Khalil, QC, has told the jury.

He said Clarke, along with Chandler and Stewart, all played a part in the murder.

Jonathan Clarke

“Mr Everitt was initially assaulted. He was bundled into a car, taken to a forest or wooded area. He was then tied to a tree with blue nylon roping,” Mr Khalil said.

“Petrol was poured on to him and into his throat. He was then set on fire while tied to that tree.

“The rope burned through. He was still alive. He stepped from the tree a short distance, still alight, and there he was to die.”

He was buried in a nearby ditch and found with blue rope around his left ankle.

The jury has been shown a scene from British horror film Severance in which a man was shown tied to a tree, had petrol on him and was set on fire.

Mr Khalil claimed Clarke had watched the DVD about a year before Mr Everitt had been killed.

He had allegedly made a comment on the lines of: “Wouldn’t it be wicked if you could actually do that to someone in real life?”

The jury has also heard a “petrified” Mr Everitt had reported an attack by Clarke hours before disappearing.

He told police he had been punched, kicked and chased by Clarke. The trial continues.

By Peter Johnson