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"Ice" drug argument torture revealed: court

Xinhua, September 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Australian man on Queensland's Gold Coast tourist strip had honey poured on his genitals to attract ants and was held in a ice-box esky where he later died, a Brisbane court heard on Thursday.

Shaun Barker, 33, had been missing for about four months before his remains were found at a nearby forest in April last year.

Stephen John Armitage, his son Matthew Leslie Armitage and William Francis Dean have been charged with his torture and murder.

The Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday was told the deceased was allegedly involved in the manufacturing of methamphetamine known commonly as "ice" - and a dispute arose between the gang.

The Crown said Barker was kidnapped and held in a large commercial esky.

The court heard that witness Kane Ostwald was with the trio when they realized Barker was dead.

"I became paranoid and would lie to those closest to me, and the drug caused me to have impaired functioning," Ostwald said in his witness statement.

A committal hearing was set down in January 2016. Endi