Earlier today two brothers, described as bullies, were jailed for life for murdering Vincent Barnes, 22, whose decomposed body was found at the bottom of a mud bank at a lake in Noak Hill, Essex.
A jury at the Old Bailey was told that Mr Barnes had been strangled and his body dumped, where it lay undetected for three months. Two lengths of cord, like shoelaces, which had been used as a ligature were found round his neck, said Jeffrey Pegden QC, prosecuting.
The court heard that Mr Barnes had been murdered after he had seen a girlfriend of one of the brothers taking a bath.
Tony Whitehead, 23 and his brother Lee, 22, from Romford, Essex had denied murdering Mr Barnes in August last year. Tony Whitehead changed his plea to guilty during the trial and his brother Lee was convicted by the jury.
Mr Pegden said that Mr Barnes, who was “a vulnerable and disadvantaged member of society”, was living at the Whiteheads’ family home at the time.
“In the weeks and months leading up to his killing, he had been systematically bullied and assaulted by the two defendants.
“Those assaults and the consequent injuries were witnessed by others on occasions. Part of the reasons for the assaults seems to have been an allegation that Mr Barnes had walked in on Lee Whitehead’s girlfriend while she was in the bath.
“To put it bluntly, he might have fancied her and it caused the brothers resentment, to put it mildly,” said Mr Pegden.
Mr Barnes had gone with the brothers and three others on the fishing trip.
“Six people went. Only five returned. Mr Barnes was strangled in the course of the night. His body was not found for three months.”
