A WOMAN was kidnapped and driven to a barn where she discovered the body of her murdered husband, a court was told.

Two men took Julie Waters from her home in Nantwich, Cheshire, and drove her to a farmhouse where she found the body of her battered husband, Brian.

Her two grown-up children and another man were alive but tied up at Burnt house Farm, Tabley.

Mrs Waters told Chester Crown Court her husband had become involved in drug dealing and ran a cannabis farm at the disused Cheshire farm.

Four men, one of them from Radcliffe, are charged with the murder of Mr Waters, aged 44, in a dispute over a £20,000 drugs deal.

The jury heard that on June 19 last year, Mrs Waters received a phone call from her agitated son who told her he had two "friends" coming round to the family home . They wanted to "pick something up", he said.

Before she was off the phone, a man had knocked at the door and let himself in, while another ran up the stairs.

Questioning by Patrick Harrington, QC, prosecuting, Mrs Waters said the men told her that her husband had upset a lot of people and they wanted £20,000.

The court heard that the men, one black and one white, searched the rooms looking for money and found a secret but empty compartment in a closet. Mrs Waters spoke to the black man to ask why they were doing this. She told the court: "I asked why he was doing this and he said he didn't work a nine-to-five job and this was what he did."

A mobile phone was passed to Mrs Waters, with a voice at the other end asking her: "Tell them where the money is."

Mrs Waters said she could hear her daughter Natalie, aged 22, in the background shouting "Mum". She said she replied by asking them not to hurt her. "I just cried into the phone: 'Don't hurt my baby. Leave her alone'."

Mrs Waters was taken downstairs by the men and told to get into the boot of the car, but she refused because she feared she might suffocate. Eventually she was placed in the back seat area and told to lie down. A blanket was placed over her head and she was driven to Burnt House Farm.

At the farm, Mrs Water saw her daughter and her son Gavin, aged 26, along with another man, Suleman Razak, tied up with tape around their mouths. They pointed to an area where her husband's battered body was lying.

James Stuart Raven, aged 45, of Parnham Close, Radcliffe; Otis Matthews, aged 27, of Melbourne Avenue, Manchester; Ashley Guishard, aged 30, of York Road, Sale; and John Godfrey Wilson, aged 54, of Marple Road, Glossop, all deny murder and causing grievous bodily harm to Suleman Razak. Raven has also denied indecent assault.

The prosecution allege that Mr Waters was abducted and tortured, along with his son and daughter and Mr Razak, in the cow shed, which the Waters family were using to cultivate cannabis.

(Proceeding)