A man was "savagely" beaten to death with baseball bats and his body left half-naked from the waist down on a Sheppey beach amid claims he had molested a girl, a court heard.

Mark Terry was said to have "extremely over-reacted" to the revelation and "organised the death" of 34-year-old Gary Pocock.

Mr Pocock, who was staying in a holiday chalet in Leysdown, was then "lured" to a secluded part of the beach off Warden Bay Road, where it is alleged he was attacked by Terry, his son, Matthew, family friend Christopher Bones and a 15-year-old boy.

Mr Pocock's body was discovered at 5.30am on August 7 last year by Malcolm Fullbrook, who was out with his metal detector.

Mr Pocock, who lived in Barking, east london, had suffered serious head injuries.

Two wooden baseball bats were found near his body, one of which had broken into two.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that despite extensive door-to-door police enquiries, Mr Pocock was not identified until 36 hours later when details released to the media of a distinctive signet ring Mr Pocock was wearing were recognised by his partner, Wendy Polley.

She told officers she believed he had gone off with another woman after spending the evening drinking with friends.

But prosecutor Jonathan Higgs QC told the jury of six men and six women that this was a lie.

"That group he had been out drinking with - his friends - was the group who killed him.

"They took him to various pubs, lured him back on the beach in a quiet and secluded area and there they beat him to death.

"What they were passing on to his (Mr Pocock's) partner was a false trail."

Mark Terry, 44, and Matthew Terry, 21, both of Grantham Road, Manor Park, east London, Bones, 20, of Dorothy Gardens, Dagenham, Essex, and the teenager who is from Sheerness but cannot be identified for legal reasons, deny murder.

They also deny perverting the course of justice by making two false statements to

police.

A fifth man, Jamie West, 19, of Cliff View Gardens, Warden, also denies murder.

The jury was told he was not on the beach that night when Mr Pocock was attacked.

But Mr Higgs said West had been at a "meeting" less than 24 hours earlier when it is alleged Mark Terry revealed the allegation against Mr Pocock and that there was going to be a "punishment" for it.

West is also alleged to have provided one of the baseball bats.

"That is significant because if you lend somebody a baseball bat to carry out a beating," added Mr Higgs, "you know it is pretty serious. This isn't fists, this isn't a slap."

Mark Terry's wife, Lisa Terry, 32, also of Grantham Road, Manor Park, denies perverting the course of justice by telling a witness to withhold information from police.

At the start of the trial today, the jury heard that although Mr Pocock and Miss Polley, and the Terry family lived in different parts of London, both had holiday chalets on Sheppey and got on well with each other.

However, Mr Higgs said that when Mark Terry discovered last summer there had been "an allegation of some degree of interference" by Mr Pocock, he called a meeting at a second chalet he owned at Happy Valley.

"At this meeting the Crown say Mark Terry told everybody what was being said and that Gary Pocock must be given a beating for it," said the prosecutor.

"What was in his mind was to get a group together and take it out on Gary Pocock."

During the prosecution's opening of the trial, which is expected to last up to nine weeks, Mr Higgs showed the jury various CCTV images of the movement of the five male defendants in the hours leading up to Mr Pocock's alleged murder.

"Gary Pocock was to be taken onto the beach at the other end by The Promenade with Mark Terry, while coming the other way was Matthew Terry, baseball bats and all" - Jonathan Higgs, QC, prosecuting

Just before 10pm on August 6, Mark Terry, Mr Pocock, Matthew Terry, Christopher Bones, and the teenage boy, who is now aged 16, were seen walking to Merlin's bar.

Matthew Terry was later said to be driving a red Ford Focus around the town, in which it is alleged West was a passenger.

The car was last spotted heading in the direction of one end of the beach.

The prosecutor said it was also the last sighting of Matthew Terry and West until after the alleged killing.

"This was a pincer," added Mr Higgs. "Gary Pocock was to be taken onto the beach at the other end by The Promenade with Mark Terry, while coming the other way was Matthew Terry, baseball bats and all."

The trial continues.