Murder-accused says bullet 'nowt to do with me'

Barry Dawson was killed at his home in Stanley, County Durham, in April

A man whose DNA was found on a bullet used in the shooting of a 60-year-old has told jurors the ammunition was nothing to do with him.

Barry Dawson was fatally struck in the chest when a handgun was fired into his home in Stanley, County Durham, in April, Teesside Crown Court has heard.

Sean Reay, 30, admits firing the weapon but said he did not mean to hit anyone, while four other men who went to the scene with him deny murder.

His co-accused Kelvin Lawson, who threw a brick through Mr Dawson's living room window seconds before the shooting, said he did not know Mr Reay had a gun on him.

Mr Dawson was shot as he stood in the living room of his home on Elm Street in South Moor at about 17:15 BST on 5 April, jurors have heard.

A CCTV video seen by the jury showed Mr Lawson smashing the living room window with a brick before Mr Reay stepped forward and fired a single shot into the room.

Mr Dawson was declared dead at the scene about an hour later, the court has heard, with the bullet having pierced his heart and lodged in a sofa cushion behind him.

The defendants, all of whom are from Stanley and deny murder, are:

• Sean Reay, 30, of Clavering Place

• Keith Dorward, 48, of no fixed address

• Kevin Dorward, 38, of New Durham Road

• Thomas Lee Sterling, 22, of The Avenue

• Kelvin Lawson, 37, of Frosterley Gardens

Mr Reay previously told jurors he had only meant to "scare" a man in the house who had threatened him earlier in the day.

His friend and co-accused Mr Lawson said the group were trying to send a message to the man who threatened his "pal" and he did not know Mr Dawson.

Mr Lawson, a drug addict who claimed he could not recall much of what happened as he was drunk at the time, said he did not know Mr Reay had a handgun on him or that he was going to shoot.

Mr Reay refused to tell the court where he got the gun from but said it came already loaded, with jurors hearing DNA on the spent bullet casing matched Mr Lawson.

In cross-examination by prosecutor Francis FitzGibbon KC, Mr Lawson said the ammunition had "nowt to do with me".

He claimed he used to have a cache of handgun bullets he found in a coal shed which he had handled and then sold for £100 worth of cocaine as part of his "crack habit".

When asked if it was "pure coincidence" his DNA was on the casing from the shooting, Mr Lawson replied: "How can I answer that? I don't know."

The car used by the men to get to and from Elm Street was set alight and abandoned after the shooting

Mr Lawson said he did not know where Mr Reay got the gun from and did not ask as it was not his business, and he had "no clue" what happened to the weapon afterwards.

He said he had nothing to do with the shooting and Mr Reay was the only one of the group responsible for Mr Dawson's death.

"We didn't have the gun," he said of himself and his other three joint enterprise co-accused.

Mr Lawson said he would never contact the police about any issues and would sort matters out for himself.

When asked if he would use violence, Mr Lawson replied "not really", before adding smashing a window was "totally different" to hitting a person.

'Story in your head'

The court has heard Mr Lawson had thrown a rock through the window moments before hurling the brick and the shooting, with two men running out to confront the masked group before fleeing back inside.

Mr FitzGibbon said the men "must have been scared" already so asked why Mr Lawson threw a second missile before Mr Reay fired.

"They weren't scared enough, because they came out in the first place," Mr Lawson said, adding he wanted to smash the second window "to put fear in them again".

He said he could not see anyone in the room as it was dark and only found out several hours later when he and several of his co-accused were drinking together that someone had been killed.

Mr FitzGibbon said Mr Lawson was "not bothered" about the shooting, to which Mr Lawson asked why he should be as he didn't "pull the trigger" and it was "an accident".

The prosecutor said Mr Lawson's job was to smash the window and draw the men out for Mr Reay to shoot them, to which he replied: "Not at all, you've just made a little story in your head, it's not true mate."

Keith and Kevin Dorward have both admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice by setting alight the Seat Arona used by the men to get to and from the shooting, jurors were told.

Kevin Dorward's partner, Michaela Hetherington, 35, of South View Gardens, Annfield Plain, has admitted perverting the court of justice by falsely reporting the Arona stolen after the killing.

The trial continues.