Murder accused Gary Allen 'bigged himself up' to undercover officers

Samantha Class (left) and Alena Grlakova were both strangled, jurors have been told

A man accused of murdering two women 21 years apart has told a court he tried to "pass myself off as criminally minded" to undercover officers.

Gary Allen denies strangling Samantha Class, 29, in Hull in 1997 and Alena Grlakova, 38, in Rotherham in 2018.

A year-long Humberside Police sting in 2010 involving seven officers attempted to link him to Ms Class's murder.

He fabricated most of his conversations with them as he thought he was being "set up", Sheffield Crown Court heard.

The 47-year-old told the jury he had believed an undercover officer named "Ian" was a drug dealer and was "just stringing him along" as he wanted to "rip him off" and get paid.

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Jurors previously heard cover stories were created during the undercover operation, which produced more than 400 hours of secret recordings to gather evidence to "prove or disprove" Mr Allen's role in the sex worker's death.

Gary Allen was convicted in 2000 for attacking two sex workers in Plymouth, the court had heard

He denied that conversations recorded by the undercover officers on 6 December 2010 and 16 February 2011, in which he confessed to killing Samantha Class and dumping her body, were true.

He said other claims he made about committing house burglaries, assaulting a police officer and that "violence and all that ain't a problem" were "all fabrications".

"I was just talking out of my backside," he said. "I just told them what they wanted to hear."

His defence barrister, Katherine Goddard, repeatedly asked him why he made such false claims, to which he replied: "I just wanted to pass myself off as criminally-minded".

'Believed who they were'

He said he burned blood-stained clothes, which was staged in one piece of "theatre" for an undercover officer named "Scott".

"I was doing it more for Scott. I considered Scott as a friend and Ian was his cousin."

Mr Allen told the jury he was "just trying to big myself up" to Ian.

He said he "still believed who they were and who they claimed to be" up until last year when he found out about the police sting.

"I was pretending to be like them and they were pretending to be like me from what I've gathered," he said.

Jurors heard Mr Allen was acquitted in February 2000 of Ms Class's murder, but "significant new evidence" had led to this second trial.

The mother-of-three's body was discovered by schoolchildren on the banks of the Humber Estuary in North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, in October 1997.

Under cross-examination, Mr Allen told prosecutor Alistair McDonald that he had been "fitted up in a conspiracy" since his acquittal, which included probation officers telling lies about him.

Alena Grlakova had three young children and was planning to return to Slovakia before her death, jurors were told

When questioned if he was involved in the disappearance and death of Alena Grlakova, whose naked body was found in a Rotherham stream in April 2019, more than four months after she went missing, Mr Allen replied: "No."

He told the court they became friends in 2018 and he had not known she was a sex worker, but admitted he did have sex with her one time.

Jurors heard he did not want her at his flat after two of his mobile phones went missing and he had harshly told her to leave, but was not violent despite making threats to beat her if she did not.

"I didn't dislike Alena. She was a pain... and I wanted her out," he said, later adding he was "shocked" to learn of her death.

Ms Goddard asked why he had bought a hand trowel, shovel and large quantities of wet wipes after her disappearance.

He said he was thinking of getting an allotment and that he used lots of wipes to clean his flat.

The court also heard that a series of images of naked and semi-naked women, some covered in blood, were found on Mr Allen's phone.

The trial continues.