Killed youth forced to drink petrol

3:53am Saturday 5th July 2008

A 17-year-old boy died after being tied to a tree, made to drink petrol and then set on fire, detectives have said.

Post-mortem tests showed that Simon Everitt, of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, died as a result of inhaling combustible fluid, police said. Officers said the teenager's body had been buried in a ditch.

Simon vanished from Great Yarmouth on June 7. His remains were found in Mautby, Norfolk, three weeks later.

Three people have been charged with his murder. Jimi Lee Stewart, 24, and Maria Chandler, 40, both of Great Yarmouth, and Johnathan Clarke, 19, of Telford, Shropshire, are due before Norwich Crown Court on July 14.

Detectives launched a murder inquiry more than a week before finding Simon's remains after receiving a "tip-off".

Simon's father, Vince, 44, an entertainer from Great Yarmouth, had appealed for help in finding the teenager.

Mr Everitt said his son, who was studying engineering, had a "heart of gold".

The teenager was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and grew up in Bishop Auckland, Durham. He and his father moved to Great Yarmouth four years ago.

Police said he was last seen outside the James Paget Hospital at Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth.

Mr Everitt set up a website - www.missingson.wetpaint.com - on which he appealed for information about Simon's disappearance.

Farming in the county