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April 9th, 2013 
MAIN IMAGE: Police raid a Melville Street, Darwin, residence. INSET TOP LEFT: Paul John Stamp. TOP RIGHT: The scene on Wednesday 19 September in Winnellie. Pictures: Michael Franchi, Brad Fleet, Supplied
A MAN was bashed and burnt alive in the boot of a car because he drank a flatmate’s beer, a court has heard.
Gregory Channing, 41, and Gary Miles, 40, have pleaded not guilty to murdering Paul John Stamp, 47, by locking him in the boot of a car and setting the vehicle on fire in Darwin on September 19 last year.
Crown prosecutor Paul Usher said the two accused returned to Mr Miles’ unit in the early hours of the morning to find a beer was missing from the fridge.
Mr Usher said the two men woke Mr Stamp in his bedroom and bashed him unconscious before dragging him down the front stairs and locking him in the boot of the car.
“They discussed driving into the bush or an industrial area and leaving him there so he could find his own way home,” Mr Usher said.
Instead Mr Channing ran out of fuel on Bombing Road, Winnellie, the court heard.
Mr Miles allegedly poured fuel over the vehicle and set it alight.
“Gary Miles ignited the vehicle with a cigarette lighter causing a raging fire,” Mr Usher said.
Mr Stamp arrived in the NT from Western Australia – seeking work in the mines – on September 11, 2012.
Fire-fighters and police were called to a car blaze about 3am in Bombing Road, Winnellie – eight days later.
Paul Stamp’s father Jack Stamp, 71, of Belmont, NSW, said the family – including Paul’s mother Helen, 70, and younger brother Craig – were “devastated”.
“We don’t know the motive for what happened,” he said. “He was in Darwin for eight days – now he’s gone.”
Mr Stamp said the last time he spoke to his elder son was on Father’s Day.
Brother Craig wrote on the NT News Facebook page: “This was my brother , he had only been there a week just got a new job”.
The case continues.
For local updates, see the NT News.
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