Millionaire 'beaten to death by ID thief who raided bank accounts'

Allan Chappelow, 86, was a world expert on playwright George Bernard Shaw but had become "rather eccentric" in his old age, the jury was told.

His body lay undiscovered for three weeks beneath a pile of papers in his £2.5 million Georgian home in Hampstead, London.

Meanwhile, Chinese-born Wang Yam had stolen his post and impersonated him to ransack his bank account, the court heard.

When Mr Chappelow's body was found Yam fled the country on a Eurostar.

Yam, 46, of West Hampstead, has denied murder, burglary, theft, handling stolen goods and obtaining a money transfer by deception in May and June 2006.

Before the case was opened Mr Justice Ouseley told the jury the press and public would be excluded from part of the trial which would be heard in camera.

"It is a very unusual thing to happen in the course of a criminal trial," he said.

"Don't speculate about what that evidence may be, you'll hear about it soon enough, probably on Monday."

Mark Ellison, prosecuting, said Mr Chappelow had been a highly successful author in the Eighties with his two biographies of Shaw.

"But by the time he was murdered he was not only elderly but quite reclusive and was described by one neighbour as rather eccentric,'" he said.

"His house was severely dilapidated andheavily cluttered with rubbish inside and outside. The garden was heavily overgrownand he often didn't come to thedoorwhencallerscameround.

"However he was regarded by those who knew him as highly intelligent and there was no question that he was able to handle his affairs."

Mr Chappelow travelled to the United States in April 2006 when his house was burgled and his post, showing he had a large amount of money in savings accounts, was stolen.

The author reported the theft on his return to Britain and he was concerned he might had lost an Inland Revenue tax rebate that might have been sent to his home.

At the beginning of May the postman found he was unable to reach Mr Chappelow's front door because a tree had fallen down in the garden.

Half an hour later he was approached by "a Chinese-looking man" who said he was related to the occupant and would clear the tree away.

The following day the postman found the tree had been shifted, the court heard.

Meanwhile Yam was carrying out an identity theft known as "facility takeover" using information contained in the stolen mail to impersonate his victim over the phone and via the internet to steal £20,000 from bank accounts.

Yam showed " a peculiar confidence" in returning to the house — while Mr Chappelow's body lay undiscovered — to collect more post, said Mr Ellison.

"This is totally consistent with him being involved in the murder and knowing the victim was no longer alive," the prosecutor added. The case continues.