Joe Pooley death: Vulnerable man 'attacked and thrown into river'

Joe Pooley, 22, was found dead in the River Gipping in Ipswich on 13 August 2018.

A vulnerable man was lured from his home, attacked and thrown into a river to drown over a comment he made about a woman's children, a court heard.

Joe Pooley, 22, was found dead in the River Gipping in Ipswich on 13 August 2018.

Becki West-Davidson, Lisa-Marie Smith, Sean Palmer and Sebastian Smith deny murder. They also deny manslaughter.

Ipswich Crown Court heard Ms West-Davidson was "angry" with Mr Pooley and "stoked up hostility towards him".

The court was told the pair had slept together and hostility was created after a flurry of messages were later sent, in one of which Mr Pooley said: "No wonder you ain't with your kids".

Jurors were told it was a "clear reference" to the fact Ms West-Davidson's children do not live with her and had made her "so angry" that she "smashed up her room".

Joe Pooley's body was found almost a week after he was killed, the court was told

The court was told Mr Pooley was killed in the early hours of 7 August 2018.

His body was found almost a week later by a dog walker.

Prosecutor Christopher Paxton QC said Ms West-Davidson, 30, of Rope Walk, Ipswich, had "encouraged others" to attack Mr Pooley, who was "under the wing of adult social care" and considered vulnerable.

He said Mr Palmer, 30, of South Market Road, Great Yarmouth, and Mr Smith, 35, of no fixed address, assaulted him and threw him into the river.

Ms Smith, 26, of Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland, "assisted by luring Joe Pooley from the safety of his home knowing he was going to be attacked", Mr Paxton said.

He added: "It's our prosecution case that each of the four had a role to play in the events that caused Joe Pooley's young life to end in the waters of the River Gipping."

The trial continues.

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