Ghanaian burnt to death

The case of the 30-year old Ghanaian - Michael Menson - who was burnt to death in London has started at the Old Bailey in London.

Human torch death 'meant as a joke'

A BLACK rock musician was turned into a human torch and robbed, but police at first failed to treat his death as murder, believing he set fire to himself, an Old Bailey court was told yesterday.

Michael Menson, 30, died after suffering burns to 30 per cent of his body. Two motorists who stopped to help saw him leaving a trail of burning debris and making no effort to put out the flames.

When the police arrived, Mr Menson "appeared out of the darkness, naked except for his socks, in a trance-like state, making no sound", Nigel Sweeney, for the prosecution, said. "He had terrible burns to his back, from which the smoke was still rising."

One of his alleged killers was said to have claimed that his death was a joke which went wrong. He was also alleged to have stated: "So what, he was black," according to a witness. A reason given for the alleged attack was that Mr Menson looked like someone who had "stressed" that alleged murderer's girlfriend.

The police did not arrest anyone for two years.

Yesterday, at the start of the trial of three men accused of murder or perverting the course of justice, the Old Bailey was told of a series of mistakes by police. Mr Menson told PC Jo Walsh minutes after he was found that he had been attacked. She failed to tell colleagues and the area was not preserved as a crime scene.

She made no note and took time off ill, affected by the events. Mr Menson also told ambulancemen that he had been attacked and later told two of his brothers. He also suggested later that he might have attempted suicide.

Mario Pereira, 26, from Edmonton, North London, pleads not guilty to murdering Mr Menson and perverting the course of justice. Charalambus Constaninou, 27, also from Edmonton, denies murder. He admits one charge of perverting the course of justice by making a false statement during police investigations, but denies another charge. Husseyin Abdullah, 50, from Edmonton, denies perverting the course of justice.

The case continues.