Paul John Stamp, who was burned to death for drinking pal's beers, a court heard
Paul John Stamp, who was burned to death for drinking friend's beers, a court heard.

An Australian man who discovered his friend had drunk all his beers went crazy and burned the culprit alive, prosecutors claim.

Paul John Stamp, 47, paid the ultimate price for ignoring his friend Gary Stewart Miles' order to stay away from his last four cans of lager.

When Miles discovered Stamp had drunk all of them, he and friend Gregory Channing beat him up and bundled him in to a car boot. They then drove to an industrial area intending to dump their injured companion and leave him to find his own way home, but discovered the car was out of petrol.

Upon returning with a jerry can of fuel, it is alleged Miles chose to pour the contents over the car instead of in to the tank - and then ignite it.

Stamp died in the flames while trapped in the boot of the car.

At the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin, Miles denied murdering Stamp. Channing, who is in jail for assaulting the victim, testified against Miles by saying he heard him say: "I'm going to kill that c---."

"You could tell by the way he was, he was a different person," said Channing. "Upset, like he couldn't believe what happened, like it didn't happen but it did.''

The court heard Channing did not like Stamp for commenting on his girlfriend's breasts.

Defence counsel John Tippertt said: "You were the person who came up with the plan, weren't you, because this man Stamp really pissed you off... none of this would have happened without you."

Channing denied starting the blaze which killed Stamp and said Miles was the instigator of the violence, adding that the incident "f****d my life up."

The trial continues.

Supreme Court Australia