A HOMELESS man murdered a ’gentle giant’ who took him into his home and then tried to cover up his crime by burning his body with lighter fluid, a jury has been told.

Stuart Hodgkin met vulnerable victim Adrian Munday by chance and within hours had moved into his home in Newton Abbot and taken over his life.

He allegedly emptied Adrian’s bank account in the space of just two weeks and killed him in a rage when he was unable to get any more cash from him to spend on drink and drugs.

Hodgkin was penniless and living rough in a tent near Newton Abbot Racecourse when he met Adrian on a train in September last year, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Adrian, aged 51, had suffered a brain injury at birth and had a history of schizophrenia but was able to live independently in his own rented house in Wain Lane, Newton Abbot. He also had some savings, an income from disability benefits of £1,000 a month and support from a family trust.

Hodgkins allegedly moved into his house, took over his finances, and took all the money from his account before killing him when his family refused to give him any more money and started asking questions about what was going on.

He beat, kicked and stamped Adrian to death and then fled the scene after starting a fire which he hoped would cover up the evidence, a jury was told. Hodgkins, aged 40, of Stockbridge Road, Winchester, denies murder. He says he left Adrian alive and well and someone else must have killed him and started the fire.

Mr Simon Laws, QC, prosecuting, said the two men only met by chance on a train on September 18 last year but within hours Hodgkin moved into Adrian’s house, forcing him to sleep on the floor while he used the bed. He remained there until the night of October 3-4 when he fled shortly after midnight, leaving Adrian’s burnt body in the house, and returned to his family home in Basingstoke.

Mr Laws said: ’He beat a man to death in his own home and set a fire on top of the body. He fled the scene in middle of the night and put as much distance as he could between himself and the murder.

’A police investigation has built up an overwhelming case against him. Adrian was a very vulnerable man but he was someone who was polite to others, mild mannered and kind. His mother and other witnesses describe him as a gentle giant.

’Hodgkin was utterly untroubled by scruples of any kind. It was Adrian’s great misfortune to meet him by chance. From that moment on he inserted himself in his life.

’The defendant saw an opportunity. Adrian had access to money and had a home. Hodgkin was living in a tent. He was living on benefits which were quite inadequate to cover his appetite for drink and drugs.

’He took advantage of Adrian, who was meekly willing to hand over money. He moved into his house and on the day the money ran out, he killed him.

’The truth was he was using Adrian. He was using his house, using his bed to sleep in, using his money to pay for a way of life he could not afford but which he wanted to enjoy; drinking and taking drugs, and all at Adrian’s expense. ’Hodgkin was described as a Jack the Lad personality. Adrian could have no idea of the price he was to pay for letting him into his life.

’The defendant thought he had found the key to his ideal life, so you can perhaps imagine his anger and frustration when what he thought was a bottomless pit ran dry.

’He beat him to death and kicked him and possible stamped on him. He inflicted serious head and chest injuries to Adrian before setting fire to the body and leaving the house in the middle of the night.’

Mr Laws said within days of meeting Hodgkin, Adrian withdrew hundreds of pounds from his account in cash, some of which they spent in the Swan Inn, Newton Inn and Saracen’s Head pubs in Newton Abbot.

Hodgkin told one friend Adrian was ’a bottomless pit’. He bought Hodgkins a new pair of trainers which were later recovered by police with Adrian’s blood on them.

When Adrian’s bank account was empty he asked his mother for two payments of £100 each and he and Hodgkin sold items from his home including a collection of coins which he was devoted to.

The money from that sale was used by Hodgkin to buy heroin and within days Adrian was on the phone asking his mother for more money. She said no and that was the last record of Adrian being alive.

Mr Laws said the fire was not discovered straight away but a neighbour heard a smoke alarm on the morning of October 4, less than three hours after Hodgkin was caught on CCTV fleeing the scene.

He said a property magazine which had been delivered a few days earlier was found with Adrian’s blood and Hodgkin’s fingerprint on it.

The trial continues.