Mr Higgs said it was the Crown’s case that James L

Mr Higgs said it was the Crown’s case that James Lawlor and Stead murdered Mr Brooker by ‘stabbing him and shooting him in the flat at (5) Acanthus Drive during the early hours of December 17 last year.

‘

The QC alleged that Jason Lawlor then assisted in removing and disposing of the body ‘the whole of which has never been recovered.

‘They removed the body by cutting it up and taking it in bags to the disposal site.

‘They then returned and redecorated the flat in an attempt to avoid detections and they sought to destroy evidence which would connect them to the crime by setting fire to various articles in the car that had previously been stolen.

‘

Mr Higgs said James Lawlor and Stead made their way to Sunderland before flying out to the Canaries.

And Jason Lawlor ‘made himself scarce.

‘

The court was told that Mr Brooker worked as a painter and decorator and had ‘a lot of friends in Bermondsey.

‘

He would also drink at pubs and clubs locally.

The day before his death he spent the afternoon shopping with his wife and he was due to attend his daughter’s nativity play.

But he vanished and never returned home.

Mr Higgs said he spent the last hours of his life drinking at various pubs and was seen later on at the Gin Palace in the Old Kent Road.

At the end of the evening he got into Stead’s Mercedes and he was never seen again.

The jury heard they ended up the flat in Bermondsey James had been renting since October 1999 for pnds stlg 40 a week.

On December 10 the landlady told James she wanted to move back in – and a week later she wanted to drop her clothes off there.

But on December 17 James allegedly told her: ‘No, you can’t have the flat back, we’re redecorating at the moment.

‘

Mr Higgs said that at about the same time the killing was allegedly carried out neighbours in the same block heard ‘very loud music’ coming from the flat.

‘They heard noises like furniture being moved around and heard male voices shouting.

‘They saw fresh blood on the first floor landing when they went out and they were told by a man squirting air freshener: ‘We’re having a clear up because we’re moving out.

‘

One of the neighbours noticed ‘four very full black binliners sitting near the front door and fresh blood on the stairs because of course Roy Brooker was being cut up and his body was in the process of being disposed of.

‘

The next morning three men were seen outside loading up a box van.

Mr Higgs alleged that one of them was Jason Lawlor ‘who was on the scene acting as the third disposal man assisting his brother and friend to get rid of the body.

‘

The court heard that the landlady then walked into her flat and found some carpet tiles had been removed in the passage way.

A grey and speckled carpet in the living room had also been taken out while a coffee table was smashed and a TV unit had been taken away.

The landlady also found traces of dried blood and broken glass around the flat.

‘The flat had been hastily cleaned and untidily painted,’ said the prosecutor.

The court was told that police later made a series of DNA breakthroughs at the flat including finding traces of blood belonging to Stead’s and Brooker.

Mr Higgs told how the defendants had tried to get rid of the white Vauxhall Astra by torching it ‘but the burning was not complete.

‘

Police later recovered a number of blood-stained items, including a bed sheet, duvet and a shirt worn by the victim when he was shot and stabbed.

It was alleged that DNA evidence linked Jason Lawlor to the sheet, duvet and a ‘DIY facemask.

‘ Police had also recovered the fragments of a bullet.

Mr Higgs then told the jury they would be hearing evidence from a brother of Stead in Sunderland who claims that James Lawlor boasted: ‘I’ve killed him.

I shot him.

I’m Mr 38.

‘

It was suggested that the killing resulted from Mr Brooker telling Stead, while James Lawlor was out of earshot:

‘I’m going to do him and one of his brothers one of these days.

‘

And later in his prepared statement Stead claimed that after he reported the threat James Lawlor pulled a gun and silencer from a hold-all and ‘put a shot into the TV and then shot into Mr Brooker’s leg.

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The QC continued: ‘When Mr Brooker ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife, according to Stead, he ran to the door and tried to get out.

‘Brooker stabbed Stead but he managed to overpower the deceased.

James Lawlor then put the gun into the mouth of Mr Brooker and shot twice.

‘

Stead then stabbed Mr Brooker as he tried to fight back, the court heard.

In his statement Stead then detailed the gruesome details of the dismemberment with the saw.

James Lawlor and Stead both deny murder.

With Jason Lawlor, they all deny doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of life.

The trial continues.

ends