Teen threw prostitutes off bridge to clear drug debt, court told

A Darwin teenager charged with murder has admitted in a police interview to binding the ankles and wrists of two sex workers before throwing them into a river.

Ben William McLean and Phu Ngoc Trinh have both pleaded not guilty to killing two women whose bodies were found floating in the Adelaide River, south-east of Darwin.

Today in the Northern Territory Supreme Court, a police interview with one of the accused was played to the jury.

In the interview, McLean said he was in trouble with the Hells Angels and had to settle a $50,000 drug debt.

He said he had used speed and had ripped them off.

The court heard McLean met two men at a Darwin hotel and was told to get the two prostitutes off the streets.

McLean said he and Trinh had sex with the two women before binding their wrists and ankles with cable ties and attaching car batteries to their bodies.

McLean said neither woman screamed.

McLean said he drove to the river with Trinh and dropped the women's bodies of a bridge one by one.

The prosecutor, Rex Wild QC, had previously told the jury to disregard any suggestion that the Hells Angels had anything to do with the murders.

The trial continues.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: 25th February 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au
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Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation