Neighbour alerted police to 'dreadful smell' prompting discovery of man beaten to death and left in bathtub for 10 days

1 October 2024, 10:25 | Updated: 1 October 2024, 10:40

A man was battered to death and left in a bath for 10 days before a neighbour alerted police to a "dreadful smell", a court has heard.

Officers attended and forced entry into the flat in north Londonn on September 20, where they discovered the man deceased.

The man was named as Marvin Dickson, 40, and was found at the home of his alleged killer, Dante Forrest.

Mr Dickson was last seen on CCTV footage in the early hours of September 10 walking with the defendant and carrying a takeaway pizza box, the court heard.

He died as a result of "substantial" blunt force trauma to the left side of his head, the Old Bailey heard.

A "blood-stained" pizza box was found in Forrest's flat suggesting Mr Dickson died soon after the last sighting, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said.

The bath at the property in Moselle Avenue, Wood Green, appeared not to have been used for bathing for a "very long time", Mr Emlyn Jones said.

Forrest, 36, appeared at the Old Bailey on Monday via video-link from Pentonville prison charged with the murder of Mr Dickson.

During the short hearing, Judge Philip Katz KC set a plea hearing for December 16.

Forrest, who spoke only to confirm his identity, was remanded into custody.

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