A gang of robbers beat and tortured a Bradford businessman to death after abducting him from his home because he was an “easy target”, a murder trial jury heard.

The mob had expected to find £300,000 and drugs at the home of Teddy Simpson in Sticker Lane, Laisterdyke, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Seven men, including three from Bradford, are on trial for the murder of Mr Simpson and conspiracy to rob.

Opening the trial yesterday, prosecutor Tom Bayliss QC told the jury that the motive for the murder of Mr Simpson, 56, a father-of-four and a great-granddad, was robbery.

Chief planner 27-year-old Anthony Davies had said he expected them to get £300,000 and drugs from the robbery, said Mr Bayliss.

“This was an attempt to extort, by whatever violent means necessary, money and what they hoped were drugs from Teddy Simpson,” he told the jury.

Mr Bayliss said a friend of Mr Simpson, Gary Folkard, who had gone to meet him at his home on the evening of August 1 last year, inadvertently disturbed the robbery in progress.

The prosecutor said: “Gary Folkard was beaten up and watched helplessly as Edward Simpson was dragged from the house. Teddy Simpson was never seen alive again.”

Mr Bayliss said Mr Folkard had tried calling Mr Simpson on his mobile phone when he got no answer to knocking on the door.

But the men inside the house thought he was calling the police and Mr Folkard was dragged inside.

He had a gun forced in his mouth and was struck about the head with a frying pan.

Mr Bayliss said Mr Folkard saw Mr Simpson being dragged out of the back door and a trail of blood was left on the hall floor. He said the witness described seeing three men, one of whom was brandishing a gun and giving orders.

He said Mr Simpson, who owned a car business adjoining his detached house and also ran a stone sales business, was found dead at about 8am the following morning by two council workmen at the side of a track leading to the former Shirley Manor Residential Home, off Huddersfield Road in Wyke, Bradford.

The prosecutor said DNA evidence suggested both men had the gun put in their mouths and were assaulted in the hall. Mr Simpson was repeatedly struck while on the floor near the kitchen. He was also assaulted while on the sofa in the sitting room, which included blows from a wrench, attempts to suffocate him with a cushion and beating him with a belt.

Mr Bayliss said the seven men in the dock were all involved in some way in the violence that led to Mr Simpson’s death. He said some were organisers, some were there to carry out the violence and others were assisting the organisers.

The prosecutor said those who organised, assisted the organising or encouraged what happened were just as guilty as those whose violent actions caused the victim’s death.

Davies, of Lloyds Drive, Low Moor; Mumtaz Ali, 38, of Astral View, Wibsey; Darren Martin, 37, of Markfield Avenue, Low Moor; Anthony Neale, 28, of Harehills, Leeds; Stefan Decosta Daniel, 28, of Little London, Leeds; Errol Witter, 27, of Woodhouse, Leeds; and Robert Cameron, 28, of Garforth, Leeds, all plead not guilty to murder and conspiracy to rob.

Mr Bayliss said an eighth man, Sonny Stewart, 26, of Hope Avenue, Bankfoot, Bradford, was also involved and was charged with murder.

But he said last week Stewart had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to rob and had entered into an arrangement with the prosecution to give evidence against the men in the dock.

Mr Bayliss said Davies was the principal organiser of the robbery, with another man who cannot be identified, and supervised what occurred on the night of the murder.

He claimed Ali and Martin assisted Davies, Neale procured the men to carry out the violence and Daniel, Witter and Cameron carried out the attack.

Mr Bayliss said the other man had told Davies and Stewart he had already taken money from Mr Simpson and implied he was an easy target. He instigated the robbery plan, Mr Bayliss claimed.

The prosecutor claimed that Martin supplied a replica gun for the robbery. Davies, Ali, Stewart, Daniel, Witter and Cameron then reconnoitred the house before the latter three went inside.

Mr Simpson was put in Witter’s van and driven to Judy Woods in Wyke where he was transferred into a Transit van belonging to Davies and his body then dumped in the grounds of Shirley Manor shortly after midnight.

The prosecutor said Davies, Ali, Stewart, Neale, Daniel and Martin were present when the body was dumped. A group of teenagers camping in the woods heard the sound of doors opening, tyres screeching and screaming, which was almost certainly the dumping of Mr Simpson’s body, Mr Bayliss said.

The trial, expected to last between six and eight weeks, continues.