The ‘mastermind’ of the brutal killing of a man tied up with extra strength duct tape and tortured to death in his own home joked about how the victim ‘must have bled everywhere’, a court heard today.
John Belfield, 31, ‘fled’ to South America after Thomas Campbell’s bloodied body was found, dressed in only a pair of socks, leaving his alleged ‘right-hand man’ to stand trial for murdering the 38-year-old, a jury has been told.
After being extradited from the former Dutch colony of Suriname, Belfield is now standing trial over the ‘harrowing and violent assault’ by a gang of three men in July 2022.
Today jurors heard messages which Reece Steven sent Belfield – alleged to be the ringleader of the plot – from behind bars during the first trial, in which he was convicted of murder.
In an exchange about Campbell’s injuries, Steven wrote: ‘Tommy crumble. Dripping in tom juice everywhere.’
Belfield replied: ‘Must have bled everywhere.’
Steven: ‘I didn’t say blood mate. I said juice, U’re crazy, bro.’
Belfield: ‘Tom juice.’
Thomas Campbell, 38, was tortured and murdered in his own home in Mossley, Greater Manchester in July 2022, a jury has been told, before his near-naked body was dumped in the hallway
Coleen Campbell (pictured) shared crucial details about her former husband’s movements with Belfield before his killing
John Belfield, 31, (pictured) is accused of being the ringleader behind the plot. He denies being at the scene and has pleaded not guilty to murder and conspiracy to rob
Steven: ‘A little bit of Tommy ketchup.’
Belfield: ‘All the lights on but no one at home. Actually, the lights have been smashed out of him.’
Steven: ‘He ran out of sauce. Empty bottle. No lid on.’
Belfield: ‘He didn’t believe the team.’
Steven: ‘He’s just crum now. In the graveyard.’
In other messages Belfield wrote that the police ‘know I’m the one in charge’ but had ‘next to f***-all on me’
He also wrote: ‘Got a chance of getting away with it.’
The court was told that Steven also sent Belfield a short video with the title: ‘Everyone is a gangster until a real gangster arrives.’
Coleen Campbell, was among those previously convicted in connection with Thomas Campbell’s death
Campbell is pictured outside Manchester Crown Court during an earlier hearing on a different matter in 2019
Campbell was ambushed by three men as he opened his front door in Mossley, Greater Manchester
The 38-year-old, pictured with Coleen on holiday, was discovered by shocked neighbours
Prosecutors allege that Belfield was seeking ‘items of value’ from Mr Campbell’s home in Mossley, Greater Manchester.
Mr Campbell was also in a relationship with Belfield’s ex-girlfriend and the alleged killer displayed ‘hostility’ towards the pair as a result, jurors at Manchester Crown Court have been told.
His body was discovered by shocked neighbours the following morning after they noticed his front door had been left open and saw blood in the hallway.
Extra strength duct tape had been wound ‘multiple times’ around his wrists from a roll bought from a B&Q store in nearby Oldham.
A 2023 trial heard that his ex-wife Coleen Campbell shared crucial details about her former husband’s movements – including information passed on by their children – with Belfield.
She was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.
Belfield – alleged to have been the ‘driving force’ behind the killing – denies being at the scene and has pleaded not guilty to murder and conspiracy to rob.
The court heard yesterday that shortly after the murder, Colleen Campbell visited a psychic who said her ex-husband ‘had come through’ from beyond the grave.
She subsequently told Mr Campbell’s mother Lynn that facial injuries inflicted on Campbell had been done ‘so other girls would not look at him’.
The court heard that Lynn Campbell responded by saying ‘shut up, Colleen’ because she did not want to know about the injuries caused to her son.
Reece Steven (left), 29, was convicted of murder and was jailed for life with a minimum of 37 years whilst Stephen Cleworth (right), 38, was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 12 years
In further messages exchanged with Steven while he was in Suriname, jurors were told that Belfield asked for details from the first trial about the prosecution evidence.
He said in one message to another recipient: ‘Just looking like what it is going to be to like for me.
‘If I have an alibi, I cannot get found guilty.
‘There is no evidence. I could have just been naive.’
He urged another unknown recipient to ‘check if they have got warrants for the phones because if they haven’t, then they cannot be used’.
One message from a sender known only as James referred to the killers as ‘the Lord’s justice men serving up death in the name of the Lord’.
The message added: ‘Tom was sentenced to death in the name of Jesus. Amen.’
Belfield told another recipient: ‘If the evidence is not strong enough against them, they cannot use it against me.
‘The trouble is getting a not guilty. Got a chance of getting away with it.’
Belfield told one recipient called Pacheco that the police had no evidence to implicate him.
He said: ‘We did not use a blowtorch. We used hot liquid in a flask to burn him.’
He added: ‘Funny, innit. Police know I’m the one in charge but they know there is next to f*** all on me.
‘I don’t even put the tracker on.
‘They have no evidence to back up what they are saying. Just some story books.’
The jury heard that Steven told Belfield: ‘I reckon you could squeeze a manslaughter. Accidents happen, bro.’
He added in a voice note: ‘If you put all the cuts on his face aside and the burns that was off whatever.
‘He’s got a f****** wound to the arm what got tarted up and a few bangs to the head.
‘And he was f****** breathing when they called 999.
The court has heard the ‘horrific’ killing was the result of ‘very careful planning by a team of highly organised criminals’ who used a tracking device placed on Mr Campbell’s car and carried out reconnaissance on his home in the days before the assault.
At the 2023 trial Reece Steven was convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob.
Stephen Cleworth, from Heywood, who acted as a driver, was convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.
He was responsible for planting the tracker on Mr Campbell’s vehicle and assisting with surveillance although he was not present during the murder.
The prosecution case is that Steven, Belfield and a third unknown man were all present when Mr Campbell was tortured to death.
Jurors have been told that Belfield’s defence is that he had heard false rumours of his involvement in the killing and ‘panicked and fled’ for fear of a revenge attack.
Belfield, of no fixed address, denies murder and conspiracy to rob.
The trial continues.
