A drug dealer accused of a leading role in the killing of Carlisle man Lee McKnight was being chased for money the day before his death, a jury has heard.
Jamie Davison, 26, is one of six people on trial at the city’s crown court.
All are said to have been involved in the alleged murder of Mr McKnight on the early morning of Friday, July 24, 2020.
Mr McKnight, who dabbled in drug dealing in addition to legitimate work, was allegedly lured to an address at Carlisle’s Charles Street at around 2.40am on that date.
The court has heard he was “beaten to the point of death” and possibly tortured inside the terraced house, with Davison, 26-year-old Arron Graham and 18-year-old Jamie Lee Roberts accused of being the attackers.
Mr McKnight’s body was found partially wrapped in a curtain in the River Caldew, near Cummersdale, by a farmer who dialled 999 at 5.23am.
A pathologist concluded that despite being unconscious he was still alive when put into the water.
Jurors have been told 26-year-old Mr McKnight was a “marked man” and owed a drug debt to Davison, possibly running into thousands of pounds and dating back many months.
A wealth of detailed phone data analysis was presented to the jury today, including messages involving Davison.
At 10.10am on July 23, he was sent a message on social media app Wickr which, the prosecution say, show he was “being chased for money” — ”paper” in slang — by serious out of town crooks.
That message read: “Lad. I’ve got to see you today. I’ll be in Carlisle by 2pm. You need to meet me with some paper before it gets messy. Trying to do you a favour.”
Later messages, jurors have heard, showed “the pressure was still on Davison to pay his supplier”. That night another, sent at 10.41pm, read: “We grab that paper tomorrow.” Davison is said to have replied: “Ok, sound.”
Davison, Graham and Roberts all deny murder along with three people accused of providing criminal assistance: Roberts’ father Paul, 51, and mother and daughter Carol Edgar, aged 48, and Coral Edgar, 26.
The trial continues.
