A murder suspect told of being shocked and angry after seeing Lee McKnight badly injured in a Carlisle house, and said he attempted to do chest compressions after saying an ambulance should be called, a jury has heard.
As the prosecution closed its case today in the trial of six people accused of involvement in the alleged killing Mr McKnight, jurors received two final agreed facts in the case.
These are details drawn up with the consent of all legal counsel.
The jury was told of information contained within a defence statement submitted in February this year, ahead of the trial, by one of the six defendants: 51-year-old Paul Roberts.
One of the topics covered was his account of what happened when he arrived at a Charles Street address in Carlisle less than two hours before Mr McKnight’s body was found in the River Caldew by a farmer who dialled 999 at 5.23am on July 24.
Mr McKnight had been transported there in a Nissan Navara.
In his statement, Roberts told how he went into the house and saw a male on the kitchen floor.
“At that time he did not know who this person was,” said prosecutor Tim Evans.
“The person was badly injured and bleeding heavily.
“He was shocked and angry about what he saw. He was not told what had happened. He said that an ambulance needed to be called and the injured man taken to hospital.
“He returned to the address a short time afterwards as he believed he had lost his own front door key at that address. The injured male was still in the kitchen.
“He was not sure if the male was still breathing so he checked for breathing.
“He also checked for a pulse and believed there was a pulse. He attempted to do chest compressions. He said again that the male should be taken to hospital.
“Paul Roberts accepts that he was present at the address when Lee McKnight was taken to the Navara.”
Mr Evans told jurors a phone handset attributed to another defendant, Arron Graham, was not recovered by police during the course of the investigation.
Roberts, Graham, two other men and a mother and daughter deny murder, and the trial continues.
