Night owl, day dreamer.: november 2010

A gang of sadists who tortured a ‘naive and vulnerable’ man for ten years before dumping his decapitated body into a lake were convicted of his murder.

Michael Gilbert, 26, was used as a ‘dogsbody and slave’, shackled to a bed and attacked by the group’s pet pit bulls. In one bizarre incident, he was even made to goad a large exotic lizard until it attacked him. The appalling beatings - often recorded on mobile phones - included being stabbed, hit with a baseball bat, forced to stand in boiling water and shot at with an air pistol. His main tormentor’s girlfriend even invented a ‘game show’ where individuals were paid to assault him.

Although Mr Gilbert did escape occasionally, the gang would contact the Department for Work and Pensions and quote his national insurance number to discover where he was signing on before snatching him back.

Astonishingly, police were aware he was in trouble but he didn’t want to pursue a complaint because the victim had said ‘it would make it worse for me in the long run’.

Mr Gilbert finally died after a new form of torture was devised, involving members of the family jumping on his stomach. They then hacked his corpse into pieces at their home in Luton, Bedfordshire, before throwing it into a lake known as the Blue Lagoon in nearby Arlesey.
Some parts of his body, including the torso, hands and feet, were found by two dog walkers last year, while others, including his head, were only recovered in February.

Ringleader James Watt, 27, his girlfriend Natasha Oldfield, 29, and his brother Richard’s girlfriend Nichola Roberts, 21, were convicted of murder.
Watt will serve a minimum of 36 years. He was heard to say “cheers” to the judge as he was sent down.

Guilty: Richard Watt and Jennifer Smith-Dennis.

Facing jail: James Watt and his girlfriend Natasha Oldfield.

Robert Watt and Nichola Roberts were found guilty at Luton Crown Court.

Officers pull a bag containing Michael Gilbert’s body from the lagoon.

Michael Gilbert’s body parts were found in a prison bag which had been thrown into a lake.

Mr Gilbert’s torso was found by two anglers. His head, knee joints and elbow were discovered in a separate bag.

Mr Gilbert’s brother Chrissy, 31, said that although his brother had had a happy childhood, his ‘naive’ personality made him easy prey for the Watt family. His habit of ‘taking off to do his own thing’ for long periods of time meant he eventually became estranged from his own family and ended up in a children’s home aged 15 where he met James Watt.

The court heard evidence from witnesses including Philip Budd, a regular visitor to the Watts’ home, who said Mr Gilbert had locking pliers attached to his genitals which were used to lead him around ‘like a dog on a lead’.

Zoe Smith, 23, described how Mr Gilbert was shackled with silver handcuffs to the bottom of a bunk bed she slept in with her boyfriend Colin Watt, who was not charged with any offence. During the three-year relationship, she admitted to visiting the home on around 150 occasions and seeing Mr Gilbert assaulted ‘nearly every time’.

The abuse continued as the Watts moved into a succession of different houses in the town.

Mr Budd said that by 2008 Mr Gilbert was only allowed to wear boxer shorts to prevent him escaping.

Another visitor described watching him being shot in the lower back with an air rifle. A postmortem examination would later reveal pellets still embedded in his body.

Two anglers found Mr Gilbert’s decapitated body in the Blue Lagoon in Arlesey, Bedfordshire

Oldfield was found to have written an entry in her diary entitled ‘Game Show Ideas’. Underneath, she suggested ‘various sums of money linked to different assaults on Michael’.
One line said: ‘£5 slap, £10 punch, £15 kick, £25 head butt.’ Another read: ‘Gilbert ends up dead.’
As well as ‘entertainment’, the family also saw Mr Gilbert as a ‘cash cow’ and would often take his benefits.

By the end of 2008, they were doing sit ups while leaning on a piece of wood across his mouth and jumping on his stomach. One of those was Robert Watt, who weighed 21st at the time.

Family that revelled in crime

Long before the Watt family were arrested for the murder of Michael Gilbert they had developed a reputation as Luton’s most notorious antisocial neighbours.
Residents revealed how they would typically arrive in an area late at night, shattering its peace within a matter of days. Calm only returned when the family moved on or were forced out.
The Watts also kept a large number of animals including pit bull-type dogs to enhance their stature in their neighbourhood, and exotic giant lizards, one of which was used to attack Mr Gilbert

Crime scene: The house where the torture took place.

James Watt’s bedroom where Mr Gilbert’s body was butchered.

At one property, RSPCA vans and police in riot gear were drafted in when the family was evicted.

None of Watts worked except the father, Antonio, now 70, who was employed at a local building firm.

In court, it emerged that the brothers’ ‘ringleader’, James Watt, 27, had 14 previous convictions for 22 different offences, including affray and shooting someone with an airgun. His brother Robert, 20, had two convictions, including battery and theft.
Even the women in their lives had criminal records. James’s girlfriend, mother-oftwo Natasha Oldfield, 29, had been cautioned for affray.
Richard Watt’s girlfriend Nichola Roberts, 21, had four convictions and a caution, all for leaving a petrol station without paying for fuel.

Only the matriarch of the family, diminutive Jennifer Smith-Dennis, 58, had an unblemished record - in the eyes of the law, at least - until her conviction for familial homicide.