Mother 'helped torture her baby's father to death'

Mother 'helped torture her baby's father to death'
By Daily Mail Reporter


A father was tortured to death by the mother of his baby daughter, her ex-lover and her brother, a court heard today



Andrew Gardner, 35, was repeatedly punched, kicked, stamped on and burnt in the weeks leading up to his death in March last year, the court heard.

Clare Nicholls, 28, her brother Simon Nicholls, 24, and her ex-partner Steven Martin, 44, went on trial today at Teesside Crown Court accused of his murder.

Mr Gardner's lifeless body was found by paramedics in the living room of the house he shared with the three defendants in Chilton, County Durham.

Opening the case for the Crown, Paul Sloan QC told the jury: 'It was apparent that Andrew Gardner had been severely and repeatedly beaten, burnt and tortured over a period of weeks.'
Mr Sloan said that Simon Nicholls told detectives that his sister had a bad temper and when she lost it she could 'seriously hurt you'.
A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Gardner had suffered 21 separate rib fractures.

'The rib fractures are such that they are normally encountered at the severe end of the spectrum, as seen in a car crash or considerable falls from height,' Mr Sloan said.
'The only reasonable explanation for the rib fractures is that Andrew Gardner was repeatedly and forcibly jumped on with feet or knees as he lay on the floor.'
The prosecutor also outlined the other injuries Mr Gardner had suffered.

His feet and left leg had been severely burnt when a hot liquid was poured over him as he took a bath, he told the court.

Mr Gardner had also suffered burns to his neck and back, which the Crown alleged was caused by Martin's cigarette lighter.



And burns to Mr Gardner's back and left shoulder were consistent with being held forcibly against a hot radiator.

Mr Sloan explained to the jury that the victim shared a house with Clare Nicholls - mother to his one-year-old daughter - her brother Simon and her ex Steven Martin.
The three defendants deny murder.
A total of six medical experts, including burns specialists and A&E trauma consultants, have provided evidence for the prosecution.
A post mortem examination by Home Office pathologist Dr Nigel Cooper revealed the suffering Mr Gardner had endured.

'There was an innumerable number of blows dealt to Andrew Gardner, which included slaps or quite possibly kicks or blows from weapons over a period of at least weeks,' Mr Sloan said.
'The point of an object or objects had been pulled deliberately and repeatedly across the surface of the body, in what Dr Cooper described as a grotesque game of noughts and crosses drawn on Andrew Gardner's skin.'
The jury was told that Mr Gardner had also been whipped with a curtain flex and knotted tea towels and there were other injuries consistent with him being cut with the serrated edge of a kitchen knife.

'It would have been obvious for some quite considerable time that Andrew Gardner needed urgent medical attention,' Mr Sloan said.
'The account as suggested by the defendants when they first called the emergency services, that Andrew Gardner has left the house and gone for a walk returning claiming to have been assaulted can be dismissed as utter rubbish.'
Witnesses will tell the jury that Mr Gardner was repeatedly attacked at home by the three defendants, Mr Sloan said.

He read from a statement of TV engineer Graham Stevenson, who was installing satellite television in the defendants' home two weeks before the victim's death, describing a row over smoking.

'She was shouting at him (Mr Gardner) aggressively saying "you know it's my house. When the engineers leave, you leave. You've had one beating, you want another?".
'Andrew Gardner appeared terrified, saying "I know, I know."'
Clare Nicholls' seven-year-old son is expected to give evidence for the Crown on Tuesday via video link.

Mr Gardner, who was unemployed, was also very thin and malnourished, Mr Sloan told the jury.
The trial was adjourned until tomorrow.

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What type of sick bastards do this to another human being? I wonder why he never left???
Rest in peace Andrew.

Hello eddie, I read this story in the paper. Words fail me, they really do to express what I think about this. He must have suffered terribly for weeks. How on earth can a human being be capable of this sort of behaviour to a fellow human being ? The poor man was badly under-nourished as well so would not have had the strength to fight back against them. I just hope that these poor excuses for human beings are imprisoned for a really long time, in fact I think they should never be let out of prison and life should mean imprisoned for the rest of their lives.
all my very best wishes Rose xxx

It's terrible Rose, really awful. The girlfriend sounds like a nasty, vile, evil, woman!

Hello eddie, I agree with you about the girlfriend. I still can't understand this type of behaviour it is beyond cruelty and reeks of sadism. To torture someone is cruelty in itself but then to continue that cruelty for weeks and to live a fairly 'normal' existence outside the house to do shopping etc defies belief. I can't understand why the neighbours did not hear anything either, surely someone must have heard something and realised things were badly wrong there. Why nobody took action to try to prevent this is beyond my undertanding.
all my very best wishes from Rose xxx

Aren't there some lovely people in this world? God it sickens me!

Absolutely disgusting! Vile people!!

Words fail me. For once in speechless. Rest in peace Andrew. May these people be given a major lengthy sentence for the torture they put you through.

Antoinette wrote:Words fail me. For once in speechless. Rest in peace Andrew. May these people be given a major lengthy sentence for the torture they put you through.

These people are the dregs of society. They should be locked away from decent people and I hope they get very lengthy minimum sentences.