A man accused of the murder of a woman in her own home and attempting to kill two men in the following few days has maintained, “a wall of silence” over the allegations, a court heard.

Those were the words of prosecution counsel Peter Moulson KC as he gave his closing speech to the jury in the trial of 47-year-old Andrew Hall.

The defendant is accused of killing his long-standing friend as he robbed her of jewellery to sell or exchange for drugs.

Ms Siviter’s multiply-stabbed body was found by her adult son, Declan, partially hidden under a settee in the lounge of her home on Brambles Farm estate, Middlesbrough, on Friday, December 15, last year.

(Image: Cleveland Police/Terry Blackburn)

The prosecution in the trial at Newcastle Crown Court alleges the death of 50-year-old Ms Siviter, who lived alone in Grimwood Avenue, took place in the early hours of Monday, December 11, but it only came to light when her son visited her four days later.

During the days following the alleged killing, the defendant is said to have also carried out two further knife attacks, both on fellow drug users in the Middlesbrough area.

Following the second of those attacks, in the victim’s own car, in Laycock Street, on the afternoon of December 15, Hall is said to have commandeered the Honda Jazz vehicle before driving to an address in Barrass Grove, also on Brambles Farm, from where he was arrested shortly after 6pm.

Police recovered two knives from the rear footwell of the car, as well as a carrier bag containing passports and a mobile phone, which were said to have been taken from Ms Siviter’s house in the robbery days earlier.

(Image: The Northern Echo)

Making his closing speech to the jury, in a trial which began on June 11, Mr Moulson told them: “Robbery was the motive and death was the result.”

He reminded the jury panel that in four police interviews the defendant largely gave “no comment” replies and he also chose not to give evidence during the defence case, on Monday (June 24).

Mr Moulson said: “There has not been one word from the defendant in response to any of these allegations.

“There has been a ‘wall of silence’ - no comment in interview and a choice not to give evidence.”

Mr Moulson said there was “layer upon layer” of evidence to suggest the defendant was responsible for Ms Siviter’s death and the attempted murder of the two knife attack victims.

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Defence counsel Nicholas Lumley, KC, will give his closing address to the jury tomorrow (Wednesday, June 26), before the judge, Mr Justice Nicholas Lavender begins his summing up of the evidence.

Hall, of Thorntree Avenue, Middlesbrough, denies the murder of Ms Siviter and the attempted murder of the two men stabbed in the other two incidents last December.

The trial continues tomorrow (June 26).