Help somebody in a bad way (4)
I believe the answer is:
abet
'help somebody' is the definition.
'abet' can be an answer for 'help' (I've seen this before). I am not sure about the 'somebody' bit.
'in a bad way' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'bad' becomes 'bt' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'way' becomes 'e' (Compass direction - East).
'a'+'bt'='abt'
'abt' enclosing 'e' is 'ABET'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abet that I've seen before include "Assist (in doing wrong?)" , "Incite (to commit an offence)" , "Aid in offence" , "Beat (anag.)" , "Assist (a criminal)" .)