A MAN on trial for murder said he was a “psychopath” with an “obsession with guns”, a court heard.

Scott Swift, who is accused of beating Michael Beckwith to death, has been described as a man who “lied to make threats”.

Mr Beckwith, 44, of Goodlake Close, Dovercourt, suffered 17 blows to his head and more to his body in Harwich, on July 31.

He died on August 2.

Footage of a police interview with Imogen Porley, the girlfriend of co-accused Joseph Smith, was shown to a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday.

She claimed to have met Swift twice.

She said she visited his home on July 28 and saw him again at the home of Triston Biddlecombe the following day.

Triston Biddlecombe, 24, and wife Enderlein Biddlecombe, 20, of East Street, Harwich, both face assisting alleged offenders Swift and Smith.

Ms Porley said: “Scott is mental.

"He is quite proud of the fact he is mental saying how he is a psychopath, how he can have eyes on someone 24/7 and that he knows people.

“He is obsessed with airsoft and guns, he doesn’t stop talking about it. "He likes to make threats, he’s not all there really.

“He would say if anyone hurts his family they will be gone, you wouldn’t see them again.

“He said if someone tried to break into his house he would just shoot them.

“Joe and him would talk about some gun he had upstairs but I didn’t actually see it.”

Ms Porley said Smith and Swift bonded over their shared love of airsoft.

“The airsoft guns are like air rifles, they shoot BB bullets,” she said.

“Some of the guns, you can modify them, take them apart and put them back together with different pieces to make it like a real gun.

"The bullets you use pierce your skin.”

Ms Porley, 18, was interviewed by police on August 3 after Mr Beckwith had died from his injuries.

She described how she met a “panicked” Smith at his home the day before where he revealed the grisly details of a sustained attack on victim Mr Beckwith with a metal pole.

“He said he had to burn all of his clothes because there was blood all over them and the metal pole they used is 30 miles off shore,” said Ms Porley.

Swift, 27, of Station Road, Dovercourt, Smith, 18, of Canning Street, Harwich, and Rebecca Ryan, 22, of Hilltop Rise, Weeley, all deny murder.

  • The trial continues.