Kentish Express Ashford & District
‘I’d never seen so much money’
The court was told that within 20 hours of the murder Love and Smith went on a shopping expedition at the Ashford Designer Outlet with some of the stolen cash.
The pair allegedly visited several shops and spent more than £600 in the Fred Perry clothing store.
Giving evidence from behind a screen, one shop worker told the court the pair had a wad of notes and were flashing their cash in the shop.
She said she saw them picking up clothes and shoes and going to try them on.
She said: “Male one (Love), came out of the fitting room with some of the clothes which were no good but paid for the ones he wanted.
“They pulled out wads of £20 which had elastic bands round them.
“He folded the elastic band and was clumsy with it and handed some money over.
“I counted it and handed some back. I have never seen this much money and it was very unusual.”
She also said she felt the pair were showing off in the shop about what they could buy and that male two, (Smith), had purchased some leather size 7 shoes while Love was still in the fitting room.
She also told the court the pair bragged about going to the bookies and spending more money.
She added: “Male one thought he looked good in the clothes and bought more items.
“He asked another shop assistant to get rid of the clothes he’d come dressed in.
“He had just changed to the ones he bought and then asked if we had any socks.
“I thought it was strange as I didn’t see anything wrong with the socks he was wearing.”
She also told the jury of seven men and five women she thought the pair were so odd she alerted security at the site as after they had left the store they waited outside it in their van for some time.
The pair are also said to have gone into another store, Lyle and Scott, where Love tried on a jumper, paid for it and left the Fred Perry jumper he’d just purchased on the floor of the Lyle and Scott shop.
She also told the court the pair looked scruffy and may have been drinking as she could smell it on their breath.
She also said they had mentioned they had been out for three nights in a row and had not been home yet and said Love was the one with the cash most of the time the pair had been in the store.
CCTV also showed Smith changing his clothes in the centre’s toilets.