THE brother of an accused murderer, who cut up and disposed of a body, told a jury yesterday how one of the killers laughed about the killing to his girlfriend.

Michael Stead told how James Lawlor, 26, joked about playing with the dead man's body parts during a telephone conversation.

He told how Mr Lawlor and Brian Stead, 33, arrived at his home in Sunderland and confessed to the killing.

Mr Stead admitted to the trial at the Old Bailey yesterday that he then helped the pair flee the country using forged passports.

He said the pair arrived at his home in Sunderland and confessed to the killing of Ray Brooker, 41, before flying to the Canary Islands.

The alleged killers cut their victim's body up and hung one of his arms out of a car window as they set about getting rid of the corpse in a landfill site in Essex, last December, the court heard.

Mr Stead said: "Lawlor was laughing about it on the phone to one of his girlfriends."

He denied working out the story with his brother Jason before Brian Stead's arrest.

Police had launched an investigation into the disappearance of father-of-six Mr Brooker after he failed to attend his daughter's nativity play.

It is said Brian Stead, a friend of Mr Lawlor, took part in the killing by stabbing Mr Brooker.

Mr Lawlor and Brian Stead, last living in Bermondsey, South-east London, both deny murder.

The trial continues.