A drug dealer accused of rallying together a group of armed people to confront a burglary suspect has told jurors it was a teenager who carried out the fatal attack.
Michael Richardson is the first of five people to give evidence in their trial after Lee Clarkson was stabbed to death outside his home.
The 42-year-old, who suffered three stab wounds to his abdomen, was allegedly attacked in a case of mistaken identity as they group were looking for his housemate.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Robinson, who admitted being a drug dealer, drove the group to Mr Clarkson’s home but denied they were on a revenge mission after his home and shed had been burgled.
Giving evidence, the murder accused denied that they had turned up at the address on West Lane armed with a baseball bat and knife while wearing balaclavas or face coverings.
Richardson said when he came out of the house he saw the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, leaning over a man on the floor delivering two or three punches.
After they drove away from the scene of the alleged murder, Richardson said: “The teenager said - “I have ‘chivved’ him up - I’m covered in claret’.”
His defence barrister, Christopher Tehrani KC, asked how he reacted. Mr Richardson replied: “I didn’t believe him at the time.”
The barrister asked: “What made you believe him this time?” Richardson replied: “Because he had said it in front of other people.”
When asked why he had given a different version of events to the jury from the one he gave to police following his arrest, Richardson replied: “I regret not telling the truth at the time.”
When asked why he regretted not telling the truth, he replied: “It would have been easier telling the truth from the start, rather than covering for the teenager.”
Richardson admitted that he had offered Craig Dent, one of his co-accused, 30 Valium tablets for the information about the person he believed was responsible for burgling his home just weeks before the fatal stabbing.
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Jurors had heard how their intended target managed to jump out of a window and flee the scene in Bishop Auckland but Mr Clarkson was not so lucky.
Richardson, 52, of Boddy Street, Bishop Auckland; Karl Jones, 45, of General Bucher Court, Bishop Auckland; Helen Jones, 42, of General Bucher Court, Bishop Auckland; Craig Dent, 42, of Gray Street, Eldon Lane; and the teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons, are all on trial for murder.
Two members of the group, Craig Dent and the 17-year-old have admitted manslaughter but continue to deny murder of Mr Clarkson outside his home on West Lane in Bishop Auckland on November 29 last year.
The murder trial continues.
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