THE fiancee of a man shot dead on a North-East showground told a court yesterday that he had spent his last day worried about getting hold of some money for a drug deal.

Nicola Cobb said Bryan Scott had been involved in supplying drugs and, a few days before he died, he told her he had put money back into drugs.

Miss Cobb, a shipping coordinator on Teesside, said before he died Mr Scott was desperate to get in touch with one of her friends who was supposed to be bringing the money with her.

On the evening of his death, Mr Scott told her the amount of money involved was £15,000, Miss Cobb told a jury at Teesside Crown Court.

She said: "He was in a right state saying how much trouble he was in. He was petrified, just worried that he had to get this money sorted out."

Mr Scott, 26, of Charles Street, Redcar, was shot in March on the Kirkleatham Showground in Redcar.

Anthony Bottrill, 41, of High Street West, Redcar, is charged with his murder, and with making a threat to kill Dean Taylor in December last year. Mr Bottrill denies the charges.

The prosecution alleges that Mr Taylor may have been the intended target, but he refused to go to the showground that night.

Miss Cobb told the court she and Mr Scott had got engaged about two weeks before he died. They had met last August and he had moved into her home.

She knew he was involved in supplying drugs, such as cocaine and cannabis. She did not approve but introduced him to Mr Taylor for drugs connections.

Miss Cobb said when Mr Scott was involved in deals he would become stressed and, the day before he died, seemed desperate to speak to her friend.

The case continues.