FOUR men accused of murdering a drug producer left a horse box in a pub car park "stinking of cannabis", a court was told.

The men, one from Radcliffe, are alleged to have bought the van, which was later used to steal cannabis-growing equipment from the Cheshire farm of 44-year-old Brian Waters.

It was found in the car park of the Barn Owl pub in Lymm. The pub owner, Carl Warburton, had reported it as being suspicious.

James Stuart Raven, aged 45, of Parnham Close, Radcliffe; Otis Matthews, aged 27, of Marple Road, Chisworth; John Godfrey Wilson, aged 54, of Melbourne Avenue, Manchester; and Ashley Guishard, aged 30, of York Road, Sale, are accused at Chester Crown Court of murdering Mr Waters at Burnt Hill Farm, Tabley, on June 20 last year.

They are also accused of conspiracy to commit grevious bodily harm on Mr Waters and Suleman Razak, aged 21. Raven has also been charged with indecent assault. The men deny all the charges.

Mr Waters is alleged to have been tortured with a staple gun, whipped with canes and had molten plastic and caustic substances poured on his skin. He is said to have been beaten with metal rods and had suffered 123 separate injuries.

Mr Razak was said to have been beaten by masked men, dragged across to a barn, tied upside down to the ceiling beams and then dangled head first in a barrel of stagnant water. He was also burned with chemicals and had his hair set alight.

Ian Wilson and his wife Alison, of Brinnington, Stockport, told the court they had sold the Ford Transit horse box to a black man and a white man for £650 on June 17 last year. Patrick Harrington, QC, prosecuting, said the men were Matthews and Christopher More, who is wanted in connection with the murder and is believed to be in Spain.

Nigel Stanhope, of Broomedge Farm, Lymm, said he had seen a van driven by More and some other men come into his farm, where they bought some straw. More said he had wanted the van for "some surveillance work on a block of flats that had been damaged by kids".

Mr Warburton said the van had been in his pub car park from June 18 to 21 and he and his manager, Frank Eaton, had looked inside.

Mr Warburton said: "We looked into the back and saw straw, lights, transformers and a lot of green leaves, and there was a smell coming from it. Frank said that it smelled like cannabis."

In a statement, Mr Eaton said: "Due to the electrical equipment and smell of cannabis, I said to Carl that this was a serious drugs van and called the police."

The prosecution allege the van was used by the defendants to take electrical equipment from Burnt Hill Farm, where Mr Waters had a cannabis farm. They then left it in the van while they went back to murder Mr Waters.

Proceeding