THE HORRIFYING TORTURE-MURDER OF A LONELY MAN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES WHO JUST WANTED TO MAKE FRIENDS... AND HOW 20 YEARS LATER HIS QUIET CORNWALL TOWN IS STILL HAUNTED BY IT
High on drugs and booze, Stewart, his girlfriend Bullock and another member of the gang, Martin Pollard, then 21, tortured Steven.The latter told how he had been convinced by the two others that Steven was a paedophile - a completely false allegation - and then joined in the violence.
Bullock is thought to be the one who put the dog's lead on a bruised and battered Steven, telling him: ‘Time for walkies.’ Eventually, to stop the agony, Steven falsely confessed to being a paedophile.
He was then forced to swallow 70 painkillers and the trio frog-marched him to the top of the Trenance railway viaduct that soars over St Austell, visible from the window of his bedsit.