The transcript of a 999 call made by a farmer who discovered the body of Lee McKnight in water on the outskirts of Carlisle has been played to a jury.
In the call, made at 5.23am on Friday, July 24 last year, the man told a call handler: “I think I have found a dead body in the River Caldew.”
He reported 26-year-old Mr McKnight being face down in the water, only up to three feet from the river bank and that he appeared to have “just been dumped”.
“I can’t believe it,” he told the call handler, who asked him: “Are you OK, sir; are you?”“Yeah,” the farmer replied. “I’m fine.”
He also reported seeing a curious vehicle — a black 4×4 — about half an hour before.
Jurors at Carlisle Crown Court in the trial of the six people who deny Mr McKnight’s murder earlier heard that vehicle, a Nissan Navara, had then travelled back into Carlisle.
It was later found abandoned and “quite well hidden” in woodland at Wreay, several miles from the city.
CCTV had captured “figures running away” from that area, the court heard.
Giving evidence in court, Detective Constable Matthew Rees spoke about the vehicle find.
“It was a simple case of police officers were searching an area.
“They entered that woodland and happened across that vehicle in the woods,” he said.
Tyres were “quite dug in” to the woodland floor, there were tracks on the ground and the driver’s wing mirror of the Navara had been knocked off.
Before they began hearing evidence at the start of day five of the trial, Mr Justice Nicholas Hilliard addressed jurors following reports of a small gathering of people close to the court building that morning.
“It’s a free country but there are two things to be said about that: if you see or hear anything like that you must, if you think about it for a moment, remind yourselves straight away that you are here to do justice, quite impartially, for everyone,” the judge said.
“So there has to be justice. It needs to be your first thought for (defendants) Jamie Davison, Arron Graham, Jamie Lee Roberts, Paul Roberts, Coral Edgar and Carol Edgar. You are here to do justice for everyone.
”The judge added: “I obviously don’t want you concerned or distressed or anxious in any way. That is not what you are here for, and anything that has that effect risks being a contempt of court and will be dealt with as such.
“I have asked that steps are taken just to make sure you are not troubled in any way, to and from court, so I am going to keep an eye on that. I don’t know who has seen or heard what.”
All six defendants deny murder, and the trial continues.
