Michael Gilbert Luton 2010

The house where Michael was murdered (right)

This ordinary house in Marlborough Street, Luton was the scene of the shocking murder of Michael Gilbert 26 years old back in 2010. It is a story of abuse, slavery and the failure of the police and care system to protect a vulnerable man.

Michael Gilbert had a challenging childhood. At age 13 he had a mastectomy and was bullied relentlessly at school. An accusation of sexual assault was made about him by his sister and he was placed in a children's home. (The sister has since admitted that she made it up to get herself removed from the family home )

Michael started to rack up several convictions for theft and was sent to a young offenders institution where he met James Watt a violent young offender. James Watt befriended him and when they came out of the institution Michael was invited to live with the Watt family. The family consisted of Mother Jennifer Smith-Dennis and her husband Antonio and James' brothers Richard, Colin and Robert. There were also living there James' girlfriend Natasha Oldfield and Richards girlfriend Nicola Roberts. They moved around to many different rented homes as they had a reputation for anti social behaviour including shooting air rifles in the street and terrorising neighbours by peering through windows.

James Watt and Natasha Oldfield

At some point the abuse of Michael began. He was vulnerable and emotionally immature and despite being tall and well built suffered at the hands of the Watt family, especially James who took Michaels benefit money for himself and forced him to do all the cooking and cleaning. Michael suffered horrific beatings at the hands of the family and was often bruised and battered but refused to report the abuse for because as he told police during an unrelated matter "It will just be worse for me in the long run". The police were aware of the abuse as were job centre staff who saw Michael each fortnight to sign on but inexplicably Michael refused to file charges against them and continued to live with the Watts family.

The torture was often filmed on mobile phones: Michael being forced to stand in boiling water, being shot with an air rifle, having his pubic hair sprayed with air freshener and set alight, being led around the house with pliers attached to his testicles and being handcuffed to James' bed each night to stop him escaping. Michaels clothes were taken and away from him and he wore just boxers, again to prevent an escape.

However he did on occasions escape and travelled to Birmingham and Cambridge staying at hostels. Each time the Watt family tracked him down by contacting the job centre and quoting Michaels National Insurance number and then waited outside for him bundling him into the car and taking him back to Luton. Michael did not protest on these occasions and appeared to go willingly. When asked by older brother Richard why he never complained he replied "I love you lot, you are my family."

Michaels' own family rarely saw him as he tended to keep a distance. Mother Rosalie White told how Michael would visit occasionally and when he did often was bruised and battered. He would make excuses that he had been in an accident or a fight and was fine really. Nevertheless a Mothers instinct is to protect her son and she begged him to come home. James Watt was described by brother Richard as"Obsessed with finding Michael" when he escaped and stepped up the abuse when he was brought back. A pet giant lizard was encouraged to attack Michael and he slept on a mattress underneath James Watts' bed handcuffed whilst James and girlfriend Natasha Oldfield slept above, Oldfield denied that they had had sex during these times.

Oldfield invented a game show where friends could pay to assault Michael for set amounts of money : she wrote it all up in a notebook with the last entry saying "Gilbert ends up dead."

A few days before his death Michael attended the job centre. A staff member noted how he appeared to be in terrible pain, limping and covered in cuts and bruises but again excusing his state as being the result of a fight. Back at the squalid, dirty house in Marlborough Road- overrun with dogs, snakes and lizards and various people of dubious character Michael was ordered to lie on the floor whilst James Watt placed a piece of wood between his teeth and performed press ups. 21 stone Natasha Oldfield led the way by jumping with both feet on Michaels stomach using him as a kind of trampoline and the others soon joined in.

Later that day Michaels stomach began to swell severely and he was doubled up in pain, unable to walk and his bowels leaking blood and faeces. Colin Watt who had moved out several weeks before, unable to bear the abuse and violence being forced on Michael, visited the house and found him lying on the bathroom floor conscious but lying in his own excrement. No medical care was offered and during the night of 21st January 2009 Michael died alone and in agony of internal injuries on a filthy mattress under James Watts' bed .

When Michael was discovered the family panicked and Robert Watt called his brother Colin asking him to come over. He had just one thing to tell him :"We killed Michael."

The room where Michael was dismembered

The two Watt brothers James and Robert together with their girlfriends Natasha and Nichola began to dismember the body in an upstairs room wrapping the pieces in builders bags and weighing it down with flagstones from the front garden, drove to a local beauty spot nicknamed The Blue Lagoon and dumped the body parts into the lake.

Some of Michaels remains were discovered by fisherman just under four months later in May 2009. The murder was quickly traced back to the Watt family who were arrested and between them racked up a total sentence of 96 years imprisonment with the Judge quoted as saying it was one of the worst crimes he had ever come across in his entire career.