A MAN found naked in a skip in South Norwood was punched and kicked to death by two people he knew over "a minor disagreement", a court heard.
Father-of-three Michael Hunt, 37, was discovered in a builder's skip down an alleyway off Station Road on March 15 with multiple injuries including a fractured skull and severe brain trauma. He later died in hospital.
Arry Green, 21, of Whitehorse Road, South Norwood, and Fiona Nalty, 24, of Fairdene Road, Coulsdon, both deny murdering Mr Hunt.
Jurors at the Old Bailey heard on Wednesday how Mr Hunt, known as 'Irish Mick', was known to the two defendants, with a fight said to have broken out after a row at a taxi office.
Mr Hunt was found badly beaten with just a black bandana round his neck and his clothes scattered around the alleyway.
Prosecutor David Jeremy told jurors: "They had met him on a street in South Norwood. All three had had a lot to drink and a minor disagreement led to them taking him to an alleyway and punching and kicking him to death."
Mr Jeremy relayed four witness statements which he said form 'the narrative' of the build-up to Mr Hunt's death.
This is from when he left The Portmanor pub, in Portland Road, between midnight and 1am to the skip he was discovered in by a member of the public in the morning.
The court heard Mr Hunt, of Holmesdale Road, had spent the evening with friends around South Norwood drinking super-strength lager and had also smoked a rock of crack cocaine.
He had earlier told his mother, with whom he lived, he wanted 'bangers and mash' for dinner and would text her when he was coming home.
Mr Hunt later spent time at The Portmanor pub, in Portland Road, where he was a regular, and played pool with friends and danced, the court was told.
He was then seen at a convenience store in High Street before Mr Hunt and his alleged killers were refused a taxi from a cab office in Station Road, the trial heard, because the defendants were drunk.
A witness from the taxi office said the pair became aggressive and started spitting at him through the glass protector, but Mr Hunt was trying to calm them down, telling them they would not get a taxi if they kept behaving this way.
The next thing he saw, the court heard, was Nalty punching Mr Hunt in the face in the street.
A woman, who lived in a second-floor flat near the alleyway where Mr Hunt was found, also said she had woken to see a male and a female with their arms around each others necks before falling on the floor.
She said she then saw the female get up and start kicking the man in the head, before hearing a man, who the prosecution believe to be Green, say: "Let's go round the corner and sort this out."
This is when the prosecution believe the pair took Mr Hunt into the alleyway and beat him further.
A 15-year-old boy, who was with the two defendants and Mr Hunt on the night, was staying at Green's address in Whitehorse Lane and said the defendant had switched on his washing machine as soon as he got home, before later warning him not to tell anyone about the incident.
Mr Hunt's pathologist report showed a fractures in his skull, nose, cheekbone and rib as well as many abrasions to his face, while his eyes were completely swollen over.
Green was arrested on March 18 in Purley and Nalty in Brighton on March 20.
Jurors had heard how Mr Hunt, originally from Waterford in Ireland, had been a heroin addict in the past but at the time of death, was a heavy drinker who smoked crack cocaine two or three times a month.
He suffered from depression and anxiety, though witness statements given by friends and local business owners said Mr Hunt was a friendly individual.
The trial continues.
