I am innocent, says manNews accused of killing teenager
FLOORING FITTER TELLS MURDER TRIAL HE HAD NO PART IN DEATH
A MAN accused of beating a teenager to death 12 years ago has protested his innocence.
James Wilde, a 29-year-old flooring fitter of Rake Lane, Clifton, Salford, is accused of murdering dad-to-be Paul Croft.
Paul, 19, was the expectant father of twins when he was found seriously injured in an alleyway by the Lord Nelson pub, Pendlebury, on March 24, 2005.
Giving evidence in his defence, Mr Wilde said he did not know why his DNA was on the handle of a baseball bat that had Mr Croft’s blood on it, saying he didn’t recall handling it but could have played rounders with it or shaken hands with someone who touched it.
He admitted having put the victim’s sim card in his phone and using it the day after the attack, saying he did so after a local youth told him he had found it and asked him to see if there was credit on it.
Cross-examining at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutor Paul Reid QC said: “We have you, a man whose DNA was found on the baseball bat used to strike Paul Croft, and the following day there you are, in possession of the sim card that has come from his phone.”
Mr Wilde said: “If I’d taken the sim card (in the attack), why would I wait 24 hours (to use it)?”
Mr Reid said: “You might have had other things on your mind.”
Two days after the attack, calls were made from Mr Wilde’s mobile phone number to a girl who made a 999 call saying she had witnessed the attack on Mr Croft and another girl, who the prosecution say could also have been a witness.
Mr Wilde said the second girl was his cousin’s girlfriend at the time, and that his cousin had made the calls using his phone. He denied that the calls had been made to find out what the girls had seen and if they were going to say anything.
Earlier, Mr Wilde’s defence QC, Simon Medland, asked him: “Did you murder Paul Croft?” “No,” Mr Wilde replied. “Did you have reason to inflict any violence on him?” “No, not at all.” “Were you in any sense party to his murder?” “No”, Mr Wilde replied. A witness has claimed that she overheard a conversation in which Mr Wilde and his co-defendant Paul O’Neill talked about attacking Mr Croft, and has implicated him in other incriminating chatter. Mr Wilde said he was not involved in any of these conversations.
He was first arrested on suspicion of murder back in 2005, when he gave a ‘no comment’ interview. He said he had been advised to do so by his solicitor and his father, and was ‘scared’ as he was ‘being questioned on a murder what I’ve not done.’
James Wilde and his co-defendant Paul O’Neill, 36, of Broomhall Road, Pendlebury, deny murder.
Proceeding