Accused denies any part in man’s death
DEFENDANT BLAMES HIS CO-ACCUSED FOR ATTACK
MURDER accused Steven Milroy blamed his co-accused for attacking Sean Mason and claimed he played no part in it.
Prosecutors allege Milroy and Wayne Froud murdered Mr Mason in a “revenge” attack after accusing him and others of stealing from them.
Mr Mason died after suffering a catalogue of injuries in the alleged attack in Sunderland, jurors have heard.
On Wednesday, Froud admitted hitting Mr Mason but claimed he was “all right” when he left Milroy’s home.
But Milroy claimed Froud’s attack, in May, seemed to go on “for a lifetime” and insisted he did not join in.
Milroy told jurors at Newcastle Crown Court that when Mr Mason turned up at his flat, Froud answered the door and added: “There was no talking, Wayne just started.”
Milroy said Mr Mason was dragged into the hallway and then kitchen by
Froud and added: “I went into the sitting room because I didn’t want to watch what was happening.
“He was getting filled in off Wayne. “He dragged him into the sitting room. He hoyed him on the floor next to the settee. Wayne was kicking him in the face and I said ‘howay, that’s enough man’ and he said ‘I will f****** tell you when it’s enough’.”
Milroy said he “tried” to intervene but it seemed the attack “went on for a lifetime”.
He said he then helped Froud, who had tried to put Mr Mason into a wheelie bin, take the injured man outside.
Milroy said Froud told him they needed to leave the flat as “Mason will be away telling the police”.
When asked by his lawyer, John Elvidge QC, if he thought Mr Mason was dead, Milroy said: “No but he wasn’t far away from it.”
When asked why he didn’t help Mr Mason, Milroy said: “I was scared. I don’t know, in case I got the blame for it.
“I had seen someone get beat practically to death in front of my eyes, I was scared.”
Milroy said he did not participate in or encourage the violence.
When asked by Mr Elvidge if he wanted Mr Mason to be killed, Milroy said: “Not in a million years, no.”
When he was giving evidence, Froud admitted he threw “about five” punches at Mr Mason.
He told the court after his attack on Mr Mason he left the flat and added: “He was all right, he was on his feet, he was standing.”
Milroy, 47, of Avondale Avenue, and Froud, 36, of Wensleydale Avenue, both in Penshaw, Sunderland, deny murder.
The trial continues.