Murder accused left body for 19 hours 'to go drinking'

Frank Ingram died in June in Yeovil, Somerset

Two men allegedly murdered their neighbour following a row over rubbish and left his body for 19 hours before calling 999, a court has heard.

Martin Carty, 56, and Mark Sothcott, 55, are accused of killing 68-year-old Franklin Ingram on 22 June this year at Mr Carty’s flat in Hollands in Yeovil, Somerset.

On the night of the killing, Mr Ingram was seen entering Mr Carty’s address wearing only his underpants and a t-shirt and holding a hammer, the court was told.

The defendants deny murder and claim they acted in self-defence but Joanna Martin KC, prosecuting, said their actions “went beyond what is lawful and reasonable”.

Mr Ingram lived below Mr Carty in a block of flats in Raglan Terrace and had previously complained about him to their housing association, the court heard.

The attack allegedly took place hours after Mr Ingram complained about Mr Carty sweeping up rubbish and leaving it outside his flat.

'A fight'

Mr Sothcott, of nearby Stiby Road, and Mr Carty were "old friends and drinking buddies", the court heard, and had been in Mr Carty’s flat on the evening of 22 June.

Mr Ingram was seen on CCTV footage shouting and swearing before going back into his flat.

He later emerged holding a hammer at 22:48 and was heard hitting the hammer against a bannister, jurors were told, before making his way up the stairs and entering Mr Carty's flat.

Ms Martin said: “The prosecution say that at this time there are clearly sounds of a fight.”

She said that Mr Ingram was fatally injured within minutes of walking into the flat.

The court heard Mr Sothcott received a phone call at 22:53 and a voice could be heard saying "might need some first aid".

At 23:15, Mr Carty tells a friend they "need you up here now" followed by a phone call that lasted 10 minutes.

At that point, the prosecutor said, "it's clear the defendants knew Frank was dead".

'Went to cleaning job'

Mr Sothcott and Mr Carty are accused of using either a knife or an axe to cause "nasty wounds to his [Mr Ingram's] arms and or legs", the jury heard.

His neck had been “extended and rotated in such a way” that it had damaged two major arteries and Mr Ingram would likely "have died instantly", the court was told.

The day after Mr Ingram’s death, Mr Sothcott went to his job cleaning the local Labour club before joining Mr Carty for a drinking session in the afternoon.

The jury heard Mr Carty was seen on CCTV footage taking bags of rubbish from his flat and spent the majority of the rest of the day in different pubs while Mr Ingram lay dead in his flat.

He called 999 at about 18:40 BST on 23 June - 19 hours after Mr Ingram had died - telling the operator he had found his neighbour “dead on the couch”, jurors heard.

“The operator kept asking Mr Carty to try some CPR and to try to put Mr Ingram into the recovery position,” Ms Martin said.

“Mr Carty, perhaps unsurprisingly, considering what he knew about how long Mr Ingram had been dead, refused to do so," she told the court.

“We say the defendants’ actions clearly went beyond what was lawful and reasonable self-defence," Ms Martin said.

The trial continues.