Boys 'slept in star's bed and drank wine'

Michael Jackson licked teenage cancer victim Gavin Arvizo's forehead and caressed his face as they travelled to the star's Neverland ranch on a private jet, jurors were told yesterday.

The singer and the 13-year-old drank wine from Diet Coke cans as they flew from Miami to California, it was alleged.

Jackson and the boy also made 'crude and crass' calls to random numbers using the jet's private phone, it was claimed.

The incidents came after Jackson took the Arvizo family to a luxury Florida resort for three days, claiming 'people were out to kill them'. It was there that Jackson first plied Gavin with alcohol and encouraged him to swear in private, jurors heard. Tom Sneddon, prosecuting, claimed this was Jackson's way of grooming the youngster for the abuse that was to follow.

After returning to Neverland, Gavin and his brother Star, 11, were given free rein of Neverland and Jackson's individual attention, he added.

'They slept in his bed. They drank his wine. They looked at his magazines and they dominated his attention. For young boys, it does not get better than that.' Later, however, Star twice stumbled into the singer's secret bedroom and caught him abusing Gavin, it was alleged.

Mr Sneddon told jurors: 'He was not moving. On the nightstand were empty glasses and bottles of wine and vodka.'

Earlier, the court was told how Martin Bashir's ITV documentary turned out to be a PR disaster for the star - and a nightmare for his alleged victim. Mr Sneddon said: 'Gavin had never seen [Jackson's] questions and answers about sleeping with young boys. He found out in a hard way when classmates started calling him a "faggot".' The trial continues.