Two men attacked a homeless man and then burned him in his tent while they were high on the synthetic drug spice, a court has heard.
Daniel Smith, 23, died on 19 January this year as a result of “multiple injuries inflicted on him in a sustained and forceful attack”, a jury at Manchester crown court was told on Wednesday.
Smith, who had a short history of mental health problems and drug and alcohol addictions, had been living with other homeless people in a disused, enclosed unit under a railway arch off New Bailey Street in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Two of the men sharing the unit, Luke Benson and Adam Acton, both 24, are accused of Smith’s murder. They deny the charge.
Paul Reid QC, prosecuting, said Benson and Smith were friends who associated with Acton and a wider group of homeless people, who spent time at the railway arches, in the city centre and at homeless shelters around Manchester.
The prosecution alleges that after a row Benson tried to strangle Smith with a piece of clothing and was heard swearing and shouting at him. Benson and Acton are said to have punched and kicked Smith as he lay on the ground. Witnesses reported hearing bottles being broken, the court was told.
The defendants allegedly boasted to others that they had battered someone to death. One witness said the two men were “bouncing along” as they recounted what had happened, Reid told the court.
Some of the group, including Benson, then went to Stretford on the tram to buy more spice, which they had been smoking earlier in the day, Reid said. Later on, one witness said they saw Benson near Smith’s tent with a lighter in his hand. The court heard that Acton was caught on CCTV simulating a stamping and kicking motion to others at the foot of Market Street.
Smith’s body was found in his tent lying on his back, his head propped up against a pallet. A postmortem found he had died as a result of multiple injuries including a sustained and forceful assault to his head, chest and groin.
A pathologist said there were indications that Smith had been alive but incapacitated when the fire started. There had been at least five attempts to ignite the bottom of his tent with a naked flame, the jury was told.
After Acton was arrested, police found the memory card from Smith’s mobile in Acton’s phone, the court heard. The trial continues.
