One of four men on trial for the murder of a trained barrister sleeping rough in a Canterbury car park made videos on his phone titled "Homeless Diaries", a jury has heard.

The MTV Cribs-style clips filmed by 27-year-old Sobantu Sibanda were discovered by police following his arrest in connection with the death of Guy Malbec in the early hours of Easter Sunday, April 9.

Disabled Mr Malbec, 51, suffered a significant and fatal brain injury, as well as fractures to an eye socket and ribs, after being brutally beaten with a wooden gavel and a laptop.

His bloodied and battered body was eventually found by police on Easter Monday in the lower ground floor of Castle Street underground car park.

He was inside a sleeping bag pulled tight around his face within a partially-zipped up tent usually shared by Sibanda - known as 'Talent' - and another rough sleeper, 50-year-old chef Gavin Houghton.

Both men deny murder, as do their co-defendants Keith Hall, 51, and 22-year-old Airidas Sakalauskas.

It is the prosecution case that Sibanda, of Albert Street, Whitstable, was the "main perpetrator" of the violence meted out to a "vulnerable and outnumbered" Mr Malbec over the course of about an hour.

Their alleged victim, who used a wheelchair and walking frame, was then left to die by his assailants, who also stole his phone and bank card.

At the time, Sibanda and Houghton had been "neighbours" of Mr Malbec's, with their tent set up adjacent to his in a corner of the "usually quiet" car park.

Canterbury Crown Court heard on Wednesday that Sibanda's three "selfie" videos were filmed "in quick succession" on March 21. He had titled two of them "Homeless Diary Episode 1" and "Homeless Diary Episode 2" and all three were played to the jury.

Smartly-dressed in a jacket and t-Shirt, a smiling and laughing Sibanda showed the viewer around his tent and the car park, introducing it as "the crib".

The first video started with Sibanda saying someone had stolen his tent before panning round to a green one and saying "That's my neighbour's" who he referred to as Bailey, and then walks around it to show their gnomes.

A laughing Sibanda then continued: "That's jokes. But we got a new tent, new bits and bobs. This is the crib, you know, loads of space for activities."

Walking outside, he added: "Err, if I wanna, you know, get some air, wanna catch some sunshine, look at that, f****** lovely innit."

Sibanda then ended the video saying "Stay tuned for Homeless Diaries, Episode 2".

In the second clip, filmed 21 minutes later, Sibanda could be seen criticising the state of the neighbouring tent and joking that his "real estate" was better. The court was told however that Mr Malbec was not living in the car park at that time.

Again, Sibanda was on camera and introduced the video as "Homeless Diaries, Episode 2" before stating "So just set up the crib" and panning the phone around to show his tent.

He then said: "Look at that, next to my neighbour's, my neighbour's crib looks like s*** bruv compared to mine. Look at the size difference, know what I'm saying."

Unzipping his tent, Sibanda continued: "Welcome. Look at all this space, look at all the activity space, got my storage there."

He then picked up various belongings inside and outside the tent, including some metal pegs in a bag and said while laughing: "Got my tools here just in case someone wants to run up on the tent, tell him what time it is."

He then ended the footage with "Bear Grylls eat your heart out brother. Real estate's better than the neighbour's."

The third and final video was filmed three minutes later at 4.19pm but had no title.

It showed Sibanda walking around the adjacent tent as he said: "Now here's me s****** on my neighbours, they've got gnomes, they've got garden furniture, and they got (sic) cardboard. I didn't think about that one. Let's go find some cardboard."

He could then be seen picking up crockery on the ground outside the neighbour's tent and throwing it inside, saying: "Move these cups of tea out the way man, like disgusting bruv. Go find some cardboard baby."

The court heard Sibanda had first come to the attention of the Catching Lives homeless charity in Station Road East, Canterbury, on Valentine's Day.

Sakalauskas and Houghton first attended the day centre on January 27 and March 11 respectively, while Hall had been known to the charity since March 2021.

One employee later described Sibanda to police as "a good communicator, quite charming" but also recalled an encounter when he had been "disrespectful" to her. He was said to have previously run his own business which failed when he was "stitched up by his accountant".

Mr Malbec, described as "very articulate and personable", is believed to have arrived in Canterbury in mid-February, having returned to the UK on Boxing Day last year from a long period of time in Israel.

The jury was told he had qualified as a barrister in 1998 but never practised. His mobility was affected by a significant leg injury he suffered while living abroad and he had found himself on the streets once back in the UK as his lengthy absence meant he had been refused benefits.

He first came into contact with Catching Lives on February 21 but was not seen by Outreach workers to be living in the car park until March 28, when he was described as being "in good spirits and proud of his camp area".

The court heard he was encouraged to see a GP about his leg but believed "meditation would be the cure to his problems rather than medication".

Emma McCrudden, who worked at Catching Lives, visited Mr Malbec, who also used the surname Levy, in the car park on the mornings of April 4 and April 6.

She told the court how he struggled with both his physical and mental health, and was worried his family would be "ashamed and upset" at him living rough.

"He did want to re-engage with his family and we spoke a bit,” she said.

“He always had conversations centred around the persecution of Jews so we spoke a lot about that.

"He said he was sad he was now living on the streets and didn't really understand how it came about and was interested in the way he and the others were living.

"He wanted to contact Canterbury City Council to see if it could be used as some kind of educational establishment so members of the public, children, could visit the site and learn how you can be living in a house one minute and homeless the next."

Asked how Mr Malbec personally felt about being homeless, Ms McCrudden continued: "He was sad to be rough sleeping. He said had previously had a good life, was an educated man, and never saw himself ending up on the streets.

"He was worried his family would be upset and ashamed at how his life had turned out and that he struggled with life on the streets, being invisible to a certain degree, and that it affected not only his physical health but his mental health as well."

At the start of the trial, the jury was told Sibanda, Hall, of Athelstan Road, Thanington, and Houghton and Sakalauskas, both of Old Dover Road, Canterbury, have admitted perverting the course of justice.

This was in relation to Sibanda, Houghton and Sakalauskas carrying out an "extensive clear-up" of the scene once they knew Mr Malbec was dead, disposing of at least 80 items including bloodstained bedding, the gavel, and laptop casing, and Hall deleting messages and call logs between himself and Houghton from his phone.

Sandip Patel KC, defending Sibanda, said while he accepts "causing some injury" to Mr Malbec, he denies both intending or causing really serious harm or death.

On behalf of Houghton, who had worked as a chef at The Pound in Canterbury, Colin Aylott KC told the jury he denies "participating in the violence as an attacker", as well as "assisting or encouraging" the assault and being "party to a plan" to attack Mr Malbec.

Nina Ellin KC said Sakalauskas "had no grudge" against the victim, did not physically assault him, and also did not assist or encourage but wanted "the fight to stop".

She added that when he cleared up the scene, he did not know Mr Malbec was dead.

Peter Wilcock KC, defending Hall, said it had "always been his case that although he saw how Mr Malbec received his injuries, he "did not himself do anything to cause them".

He added that while the defendant may have been "cowardly and foolish", he was "not a part of any joint plan to attack Mr Malbec".

The trial continues.