TWO men accused of torturing and murdering a man when he refused to give them his bank card details will not go in the witness box.

Barristers acting for Danny Howsego and Jon Williams told the jury at the pair’s trial their clients would not testify and no evidence would be called on their behalf.

However, it is thought Trisha Levett, the third person accused of murder, may give evidence when the trial resumes tomorrow.

Her barrister told Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday he wanted more time to consider whether his client should go in the witness box.

All three are accused of murdering 55-year-old Graham Reeve in a Colchester flat last summer.

He was kidnapped and bundled into his flat in Charles Pell Road on the afternoon of July 4 last year, the prosecution alleged.

He was then tortured when he refused to give his card PIN number, the court has been told, and later murdered. His body was found hidden in a nearby empty flat.

Eleven unsuccessful attempts were made to withdraw money from Mr Reeve’s bank account via cash machines in the town.

After each attempt, those responsible came back and tortured Mr Reeve again, hoping to persuade him to reveal his card number, the prosecution asserts.

Howsego and Williams were arrested shortly after Mr Reeves’s body was found and both declined to answer any questions.

However, Williams allegedly told his mother and a prison officer he had stabbed a man.

Levett, 28, Howsego, 36, and Williams, 22, all of Stanley Wooster Way, Colchester, all deny murdering Mr Reeve at his home, between July 4 and July 7.

Levett also denies four fraud charges related to alleged attempts to get cash by using the bank card. She has admitted handling the card, but denied robbery and was cleared of the offence on the direction of the trial judge after legal submissions.

Howsego and Williams have admitted robbing Mr Reeve of his bank card.

The trial continues.