BOSS STRANGLED OVER pounds 3,000 'PAY' Court told of siege terror.

Byline: RICHARD SMITH

A LORRY driver strangled his boss in a dispute over pounds 3,000 he claimed in unpaid wages, a jury heard yesterday.

Dad-of-two Russell Carter stormed into a transport recruitment office and soaked three colleagues in petrol when they arrived for work, the court was told.

He allegedly ordered the men to tie each other up and produced a cigarette lighter saying, "I will kill you". Carter, 52, then held up his boss Kingsley Monk at gunpoint.

He is accused of strangling the father of two and setting light to the office building before he fled.

Prosecutor David Aubrey QC said: "Carter felt he was owed pounds 3,000 in withheld wages by his employer Mr Monk.

"He went to their offices early in the morning equipped with a handgun, petrol, duck tape, cable ties and rope.

"Wearing surgical plastic gloves, he parked in the car park and lay in wait for his victims to arrive for work."

Mr Monk was taken at gunpoint into the main office away from a room where the three others were tied up.

Mr Aubrey said: "Carter bound him with tape and tied him with cable ties.

"He was talking to him about money. Mr Monk was asking him, 'What do you want?' Carter was heard saying, 'You owe me pounds 3,000. I'm not leaving until I get it'."

Mr Monk, 45, suggested transferring the money online and one of the staff was untied to carry out the transaction.

Carter put pounds 2,500 into his own account but gave instructions for money to be paid into other drivers' accounts to cover his tracks.

Mr Aubrey said: "The other men could not see what was happening to their boss but could hear through the walls. One heard a thud, then a groan and another thud.

"He heard Kingsley Monk saying, 'no, no no'. It sounded as if he was suffocating."

The jury heard Carter spread accelerant around the offices of Driverline 247 in Pontypool, South Wales, then ignited it.

Mr Aubrey said: "It was an attempt to destroy all trace of anything that could identify him and kill the men who knew him. "Throughout this horrifying attack, Carter had a cold and ruthless determination with no regard for his victims."

But one of the men freed himself and called 999, Newport crown court heard. Mr Monk was found dead but Gethin Heal, Nathan Taylor and Robert Lewis were rescued.

Mr Aubrey said: "Carter believed none of the men were left alive to identify him."

Carter, of Rumney, Cardiff, denies murder and three charges of attempted murder. The trial continues.

CAPTION(S):

FOUND DEAD Kingsley Monk, left, and Driverline 247 transport agency where he died MURDER CHARGE Lorry driver Carter is accused in death siege