Gary Stewart Miles sentenced to life in jail for burning Paul John Stamp to death

GARY Stewart Miles has been sentenced to life in jail for burning a man to death in the boot of a car.

GARY Stewart Miles has been sentenced to life in jail for burning a man to death in the boot of a car after an argument over missing beer cans and a comment about breasts.

Miles wiped a tear away as he was given life and 25 years non-parole - the first time the murderer of Paul John Stamp showed much emotion during his two-week trial in the NT Supreme Court.

Mr Stamp, 47, had been in Darwin a week when he ran into old mate Miles in a pub, who gave him a roof over his head at his Melville St unit in The Gardens until he got a job or his own accommodation.

They were drinking in the unit with co-accused Greg Channing and his girlfriend Jodie Lewis. Mr Stamp commented that Ms Lewis had "nice breasts" - which agitated Channing.

The men advised Mr Stamp against taking any of the four Melbourne Bitters in the fridge while they dropped Ms Lewis home to Nightcliff - but on return, the beers were gone.

Co-accused Channing has already been sentenced to five years and six months for his part in assaulting Mr Stamp, dragging him backward down the stairs of Miles' unit, locking him in the boot of Channing's Mitsubishi, before Miles set the car alight 10km away in Winnellie in 2012.

Mr Stamp was heard screaming through the car's hot metal in a lonely Darwin industrial area as the men walked away.

Chief Justice Trevor Riley told Miles: "This was clearly serious offending. Mr Stamp was burnt alive."

"He must have been very concerned about what was going to happen to him.

"He was left alone in the boot of the car.

"He must have suffered a horrible and cruel death. Your conduct can only be described as deeply disturbing."

In the victim impact statement of Mr Stamp's father, Jack, he said Paul's brother Craig would miss him.

"We feel our lives will never be the same," he said.