A man with severe learning disabilities was lured to his death amid rumours he was paedophile, a jury has heard.

Sean Miles, 37, was knifed in the head, beaten with a golf club, then stripped naked and drowned in the River Thames, Oxford Crown Court was told yesterday.

Edward Doyle, 34, Terry McMaster, 24, Tracey Fathers, 35, and Karen Fathers, 35, all from Alice Smith Square in Littlemore, Oxford, deny murder.

Prosecutor Adrian Redgrave said a plan to kill Mr Miles on May 1 last year was concocted after reports that he had allegedly touched a four-year-old boy.

He said: "They were all involved in killing Sean. They were all part of the luring og Sean Miles to McMaster's flat, or if any of them weren't part of that plan, they were all present when the attack was mounted."

Mr Redgrave told the jury that Mr Miles was lured to McMaster's flat, then hit on the head with a knife.

It is alleged Mr Miles was then taken to Doyle's flat, made to strip naked, then beaten with a golf club.

They then walked Mr Miles to Sandford Lock and made him strip a second time before pushing him into the river.

The court was also told a branch was used to push him into deep water and then the group watched him drown.

Mr Redgrave described Mr Miles as a passive and vulnerable man with an IQ of about 50.

He said: "They knew Sean was going to be put in the river, knowing he was injured, with the intention he should drown.

"They knew of the suspicions he had interfered with the child and they knew from the beginning to the end of that night's work that was the reason for the attack upon Sean Miles and for his subsequent drowning.

"None of them raised a finger to save an obviously drowning man."

Mr Redgrave read police interviews to the jury in which all four admitted Mr Miles was attacked and put in the river.

But all the accused denied beating him or pushing him into the water.

He read an interview with Doyle, who said McMaster carried out the attacks.

McMaster told police Doyle struck Mr Miles and said the incident went too far.

Mr Redgrave said: "He (McMaster) said 'we only did it to try and persuade him to stop touching children'."

Tracey Fathers denied going with the group to Doyle's flat or the river.

The jury heard that Mr Miles lived in supported housing in Herschelcor Crescent, Littlemore, run by South Downs Homes.

Managing director Robert Foxcor told the jury that Doyle had been banned from the house and he had reported breaches of the ban to police, including four occasions in the week before Mr Miles's death.

Mr Redgrave told the jury that police found traces of Mr Miles's blood in McMaster's flat.

Injuries to Mr Miles included a fractured rib and forearm, bruises to the bicep, back, hip and reddening on the back of his legs.

The trial continues.