By James Simons-
A landlady hired a gang of thugs to evict her tenant, but they jointly murdered him, a court has heard.
Courtney Valentine-Brown was killed after he was stabbed following a botched eviction, Basildon Crown Court heard.Instead of following the legal procedures of ordering a section 21, 30 year old Kelly King decided to take the law into her own hands. The case which was originally scheduled for a July trial was changed to December after the need for wider police investigations became clear,
Simon Spence QC, prosecuting, told the court the victim rented the flat from Kelly King, who also rented out part of the property to flatmate Solmaz Sevket. Sevket witnessed the disturbance.
The jury heard that King regularly indulged in drugs with Mr Valentine-Brown. The prosecution alleged that instead of paying the money she owed him, she recruited a gang to force him out of the apartment he rented from her. Mr Spence told the jury: “Solmaz woke up to the noise of keys turning in the front door and heard screaming and banging.
“The door to her bedroom opened and she saw Kelly King standing there.
“She told her ‘I have had enough of all of you and I want you to leave’. “As she said that, Solmaz could here Courtney screaming.
“Ian Slater then appeared with what was either a baseball bat or pick axe.”
Mr Spence said Solmaz fled the flat after Slater struck her with the weapon on the ankle, hiding outside before the four emerged. She returned to the flat to find Mr Valentine-Brown bleeding on the table with foam around his mouth and she called 999.
TESTIFY
Mr Spence told the jury that a pathologist would testify that Mr Valentine-Brown was stabbed in the leg before the knife was twisted and he was stabbed again and the knife went right through.According to the prosecution, it is unclear which of the gang stabbed Mr. Valentine Brown, but it would not matter as they all went with the purpose of causing him harm.
Kelly King, 30, of Westcliff, Ian Slater, 49, Stuart Pearson, 43, and Alex Stephens, 36, all deny murder.