The sad story how a tortured dad-of-two was forced to eat one of his own testicles before his dead body was dumped on wasteland and eaten by animals has been revealed before a court.
According to reports by Sun UK, Jimmy Prout, 45, is also said to have had his teeth knocked out with a hammer and chisel by a gang of four who had been his pals, a jury was told.
Ann Corbett, 26, Zahid Zaman, 43, Myra Wood, 50, and Kay Rayworth, 56, are said to have dumped Jimmy's body in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, in February last year.
All four deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. They have all pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. Mr Prout and the group of four had a strange relationship which had a "cultish dimension" to it, the jury at Newcastle Crown Court heard.
However, things turned sour in 2015 after the group suspected Mr Prout of taking part in a theft committed by Corbett's brother Ivan.
He is then said to have become an "easy target" before being subjected to a horrific campaign of abuse.
Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, said: "Awfully, on one occasion, Jimmy Prout's scrotum was sliced open and his testicle was removed; he was then forced to eat it."
He had earlier said: "In effect, over a period of time, Jimmy Prout was not just mistreated... he was tortured.
"The prosecution case is that the four defendants took part in that violence against Jimmy Prout, either inflicting injuries directly or assisting or encouraging the other members of the group to do so.
"In the end, this conduct was to cause the death of Jimmy Prout."
Mr Greaney said the evidence suggested Mr Prout died on February 9 2016 and his body was dumped on wasteland 100 metres from his home in March.
The body began to decompose and was partly eaten by animals, the court heard.
The group then allegedly set about covering their tracks as well as fleecing his bank account and asking people if they had seen Mr Prout as they pretended to look for him.
Eventually on March 25, the police received a call from Zaman in which he claimed Corbett had attacked him and killed Mr Prout, in an attempt to "throw her to the wolves", the court heard.
Officers attended a property in North Tyneside where Zaman, Rayworth and Wood claimed to have letters written by Corbett confessing to the murder. Mr Greaney told jurors it was "pure theatre" and invention because they all knew Mr Prout had been dead for more than six weeks.
Mr Prout was the sixth of eight children and lived a simple life, fathering two children, and was liked by the people who knew him, the court heard.
He started to live as a tenant of a property that was owned by Rayworth and he soon became integrated into the group. Anne Corbett and her three friends are on trial for murder after their relationship with Mr Prout turned sour. Mr Greaney alleged the campaign of abuse started when Zaman believed Mr Prout had played some part in a theft committed by Corbett's brother.
He said: "He was not able to get Ivan Corbett, who had moved away, and so Jimmy Prout became an easy target."
Zaman, who uses a wheelchair, was described as vengeful and controlling and was determined to get his own back.
Mr Greaney said: "The group considered that Jimmy Prout deserved punishment and the punishment he received was brutal in nature.
"He was repeatedly assaulted and subjected to dreadful indignities.
"In fact, we do not understand the defendants to deny that this is so. They accept that Jimmy Prout was assaulted, but each of them wishes to reduce his or her own involvement in events, seeking to blame one or more of the others.
"In truth they were in it together."
The trial, expected to last roughly six weeks, continues.
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