An Essex care worker was murdered in a crime of passion in which his former fiancé lured him to his death, a court was told.

It was alleged at Chelmsford Crown Court that after ending their relationship Rebecca Ryan, 22, arranged to meet Michael Beckwith, 44, at a remote spot in Harwich where her ex-boyfriend and another man were waiting.

The two men, Scott Swift, 27, and Joe Smith, 18, are said to have been armed with metal bars and to have launched a frenzied attack on Mr Beckwith whose skull was caved in by an estimated 17 blows to the head.

Amazingly he survived long enough in hospital to talk to police about the attack

Mr Beckwith had fallen for Ryan when they began working together six months earlier. At one point he asked her to marry him but then changed his mind and asked for his £600 engagement ring back.

However, the court was told that it was Ryan who ended their relationship claiming he was a liar and that he was still in contact with his previous girlfriend of ten years.

But Mr Beckwith, was said to have been still in love with Ryan, and to have agreed to pick her up and go to talk with her at a the Radar Tower, off Barrack Lane in Harwich.

Waiting for him when he arrived were Ryan’s ex, Swift, who the court was told “desperately wanted his woman back”, and was enraged with jealousy of his love rival. With him was Smith, then 17, said prosecutor Amjad Malik QC.

Mr Malik was opening a trial that is expected to last until the end of March, in which Swift, of Station Road, Dovercourt, Ryan, of Hilltop Rise, Weeley, and Smith, of Canning Street, Harwich, have all pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Beckwith on 2 August last year.

Also on trial are Triston Biddlecombe, 24, and his wife Enderlein, 20, both of East Street, Harwich, who are charged with assisting an offender - Swift and Smith - by washing and burning clothing they wore during the attack on Mr Beckwith between 30 July and 3 August with the intention of impeding their apprehension and prosecution.

The two Biddlecombes are additionally charged with perverting the course of public justice between 30 July and 24 August by providing police with a false alibi for Swift.

Ryan is further charged with perverting justice by falsely claiming she had also been a victim in the attack on Mr Beckwith.

Mr Malik claimed that the two men and Ryan pre-planned the apparently “random” assault on Mr Beckwith, of Goodlake Close, Harwich.

He continued : “For her own reasons, this 22-year-old young woman wanted to take violent revenge on that 44-year-old man and she enlisted the help of her ex-boyfriend Swift. He loved her, he wanted to be with her, he desperately wanted her to be his woman.

“Swift demonstrated his animosity against his love rival by carrying out a vicious attack upon him.”

The prosecutor, describing the sustained assault as “rapid and frenzied”, added: “We say Ryan brought Mr Beckwith to these two and they jumped, they launched their attack upon Mr Beckwith.

He said Mr Beckwith was “set up”. The track was a dead end trap, surrounded by vegetation and he was easily ambushed.

“He hadn’t anywhere to go, he couldn’t obtain help,” said the prosecutor.

He said Swift and Smith were hiding in a disused building and continued : “These two men, masked completely, attacked, and Rebecca Ryan knew what was coming. There was no screaming, no shouting ‘Leave him alone’. She staged a punch or slap to her face from Joe Smith in order to give the impression that she had intervened.”

Mr Beckwith died in hospital 36 hours after the attack.

However, Mr Malik said that before he died he managed to talk to police.

He added : “It’s very rare in a murder case to be able to hear from a victim.”

The jury of six men and six women were told that Mr Beckwith, a single man, had worked at Connolly Care Home in Weeley for six years. Ryan began working there early last year. She and Swift had split up in February and he wouldn’t leave her alone.

Mr Beckwith was in a long-term relationship with Sue Prior, who was disabled and in a wheelchair. He continued to see both women until he and Ms Prior ended their relationship in May. In June Mr Beckwith bought Ryan an engagement ring and asked her to marry him.

However, the prosecutor told the jury : “Mr Beckwith changed his mind about marriage and took the ring back and got a refund. That demonstrated their relationship was unpredictable.”

Prior Mr Beckwith’s death the court was told that Swift had sent him a threatening message via Facebook warning him to stay away from Rebecca.

The hearing continues.