Women's lies helped murderer 'escape justice'

Kieran Wood was lured to and murdered at a home on Spurn Walk in Hartlepool

The lies of two women in the aftermath of a murder allowed the suspect to "escape justice" by killing himself, a court has heard.

Drug mule Kieran Wood, 24, was lured to a house and stabbed to death by recently-released prisoner Paul Foster in Hartlepool in May 2023, Teesside Crown Court.

Janette Dowson and Lisa Lithgo were both there but lied to police and said they did not know who either of the men were, which gave Foster time to escape and take his own life.

Both women, who were recorded concocting their stories, admitted perverting the course of justice. Their sentences will be determined at another hearing.

Foster had been released from prison on 19 May 2023 and went to the home shared by Dowson, her partner Kenneth Dowson and Lithgo on Spurn Walk where drugs were sold and consumed, prosecutor Dr Christopher Wood said.

Three days later, Lithgo arranged to buy £300 worth of cocaine from a local dealer known as Turkish, the court heard.

Dr Wood said the deal was a set up by Foster which would see whoever delivered the drugs attacked and robbed.

Kieran Wood, from Horden in County Durham and a "drug runner" for Turkish, took the cocaine to the house, entering shortly after 15:35 BST on 22 May, the court heard.

"Unfortunately he wouldn't leave alive," the prosecutor said.

Janette Dowson and Lisa Lithgo appeared at Teesside Crown Court

Mr Wood was stabbed nine times in the torso and arms, with Foster then seen on CCTV leaving at about 16:00 after being "hugged and kissed" by Lithgo.

After the attack, Kenneth Dowson, who has since also died, activated an emergency call system which, over the following 16 minutes, recorded the voices of the two women getting their story straight, the court was told.

When police arrived after being alerted by a passer-by, the women told their lies to officers, the court heard.

Later that evening, police identified Foster as the main suspect but when they went to arrest him in the early hours of 23 May they found he had killed himself, the court heard.

Had officers been told the truth by the women at the outset, they could have caught and arrested Foster while he was still alive and "allowed him to face justice for the murder of Kieran Wood", the prosecutor said.

Their lies also delayed police telling Mr Wood's family of his death, with them hearing it from other sources.

'Brutal' murder

Mr Wood's mother Paula Scott told the court her first born son had been her "absolute bundle of joy" and he was always loved.

She said her "darling boy" fell in with the wrong crowd but was not a troublemaker or fighter, adding he was "mischievous" and a "proper lady's man".

Ms Scott said she would be haunted forever by his "brutal" murder and the lies told by Dowson and Lithgo, which allowed a "murderer to escape justice and ultimately end his life".

The court heard Mr Wood had a young daughter and his son was born two days after his "cold, calculated and violent" murder.

Lawyers for both women said they had feared what Foster would do to them and their families if they had told police he was the killer.

That was disputed by prosecutors with Judge Francis Laird KC saying the issue would affect their sentence, so another session known as a Newton hearing would be needed to determine if they had actually acted out of fear of Foster.

A date for that hearing is yet to be fixed.

Dowson, 57 and of Grange Road in Hartlepool, and Lithgo, 38 and of Wilson Street in the town, were released on bail.