FAMILY CONVICTED OF GRUESOME ABUSE AND MURDER OF VULNERABLE MAN
Michael Gilbert, a vulnerable young man, was subjected to years of horrific abuse by members of the Watt family.According to court reports, he was kept as a domestic slave, regularly assaulted "for entertainment" by James Watt, Natasha Oldfield, and Nichola Roberts.
During the trial, Stuart Trimmer QC described Gilbert as a "dogsbody and their slave," whose benefit payments were taken from him and who was forced to sleep handcuffed to a bed to prevent his escape.
Gilbert was beaten with various objects, including baseball bats, knives, and snooker balls, and was dropped on his head and made to stand in boiling water.
His suffering was recorded on mobile phones, and Oldfield even drafted a plan for a "game show" linking sums of money to assaults on Gilbert, with the words "Gilbert ends up dead" written above the plan.
Gilbert's body was found dismembered and dumped in a lake in May 2009, with his decapitated corpse weighed down with a stone.
The court noted that most members of the household knew of his situation and took part in the abuse, with most failing to prevent the escalating violence that ultimately led to his death.
