Jacksdale man accused of murder ‘boasted on CCTV of battering 85-year-old with gearbox’

Matthew Roe, aged 25, of Franklin Road, Jacksdale, and his brother, 34-year-old Luke Roe, of Potter Street, Worksop, and deny murdering Henry Thwaites, on July 23 last year, and hiding his body under a metal fence by the Welbeck Estate, near Warsop, where it was found by a passing motorist the next morning.

CCTV recorded Matthew Roe talking to Abbie Dixon, outside her Watson Road home in Worksop, at 2am, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

“You want to see his head,” he said. “His head is f*****. I got a gearbox around his head. I f***** him up. I don’t care. The guy shouldn’t talk s***.

“Bam. Smashed it straight in his head. He’s f*****. Bam. I would be surprised if he’s dead, but he’s still laying there.

“I f****** had to burn my clothes. I banged him out that hard. I had to burn my clothes. I had to. Abbie, did I burn my clothes? I had to.”

It is alleged Dixon, aged 28, helped the brothers dispose of clothes in a garden incinerator. She denies two counts of assisting an offender.

She told the court she either could not remember what was said, or was in a different conversation, or was not paying attention after smoking cannabis.

Dixon was also recorded embracing Matthew and saying: “If he deserved it he deserved it, so don't feel guilty.”

When John Cammegh, prosecuting, asked what she meant, Dixon said: “If someone said something about my kids, I would slap them. Simple.”

Their father, Kevin Roe, was concerned the brothers were “covered in blood,” and Matthew was recorded, saying: “I was covered in blood mate. I had to burn them.”

However, in court, Dixon said she thought Matthew had spilled beer on himself, adding: “I don't remember any discussion about blood. To be honest I don't like blood.”

When a neighbour complained about the noise, and mentioned he had a camera, Matthew told him: “Go back in while you’ve still got the legs to carry you. I don’t give a f*** about your cameras - you daft ****.”

The trial continues.