A murder victim whose body was chopped up and fed through a domestic mincer before being dumped on a landfill site had boasted about being a member of a notorious street gang, a court heard yesterday.

Nelvaughn Brade was said to have bragged to his housemate Steve Parton that he was part of the Birmingham gang the Burger Bar Boys.

The 22-year-old, who also claimed to have cut off someone's hand, was knifed to death after being shot at with a crossbow and bludgeoned about the head with an axe on November 5 last year, a Birmingham Crown Court jury was told.

Former male stripper Parton (39) of College Road, Perry Barr, Birmingham, has admitted murder and is awaiting sentence.

His girlfriend, Karen Morris (23) of Kitchener Road, Selly Park, also Birmingham, denies murder but is claiming manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.

Giving evidence for the prosecution, consultant psychiatrist Dr Nicholas Kennedy said Morris was "extremely frightened" of Mr Brade, whom she knew as "Johnny".

She had had sex with him on one occasion but he had been violent and once tried to strangle her.

After the relationship ended, he allegedly bombarded her with phone calls and threatened to either stab or shoot her.

Dr Kennedy said Morris' fears were reinforced by stories from Parton about Mr Brade, particularly his alleged involvement in theft and armed robbery.

The court heard that Morris' fears were increased because of Parton's concerns about Mr Brade being "at least peripherally involved" in the local drugs world.

The couple came to the "very extreme conclusion" that the only way to get rid of Mr Brade was to kill him.

Expert witnesses for the defence have told the jury they considered Morris was suffering from psychosis at the time of the killing.

But Dr Kennedy said both Morris and Parton were taking drugs, which could have accounted for her paranoia, which included fears that Mr Brade was outside her house at night.

Mr Brade's body was found in plastic bin liners on a tip near Kings Lynn, Norfolk, on November 11 last year. Parton and Morris gave themselves up to police days earlier.

The trial continues.