A plan by a group of friends to hurt a teenager ended with her dying before her body was doused in petrol and set alight, a court heard.
Debra Carne was allegedly lured to an isolated spot near her Sible Hedingham home before she was killed and her body set on fire.
Her alleged killers then drove 30 miles and set fire to property they had taken from the 17-year-old in a bid to destroy anything that would be connected to her.
A jury at Chelmsford Crown Court heard how the plot to hurt Miss Carne was the result of a "tiff" between her and those accused of killing her.
Nicole Hollinshead, 18, of Ravens Avenue, Halstead, Steven Wood, 22, of Parker Way, Halstead and Kerry Bauer, 19 of the Foyer hostel, Braintree, deny murdering Miss Carne in July last year.
They also deny another charge of conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm to her on the same date.
Hollinshead alone faces a charge of impeding the arrest of others by burning items belonging to Miss Carne to prevent the arrest of others.
Another woman, Emma Last, 18, of the Foyer, Braintree, has admitted the murder charge.
Martyn Levett, prosecuting, told the court Miss Carne, of Swan Court, Swan Street, Sible Hedingham, was last seen on Sunday July 28, when she told her mother she was going to meet a friend at the Swan pub.
At about 10.30pm that evening, a group of walkers saw undergrowth alight in Dyne's Hall Road, Great Maplestead, and contacted the fire service.
When they put the blaze out, firefighters found Miss Carne's body, the court heard.
Mr Levett said Hollinshead became suspicious of a relationship between Miss Carne and Wood and was annoyed when she found out Wood had stayed overnight at Miss Carne's home.
On the night of the killing, Wood is alleged to have filled a container with petrol and then Miss Carne was sent a text message on her phone to lure her to the spot.
Mr Levett also told the jury how a post-mortem examination revealed Miss Carne had been asphyxiated before she was set on fire.
The trial continues.
Published Monday, June 16, 2003
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