PAUL Taylor’s blue Vauxhall Corsa was a key part of the police enquiry after his disappearance.
He was caught on CCTV driving it from his home in Charles Street, Annan through Eastriggs and Gretna to Carlisle late on the night of Tuesday October 17 2023.
The car was further picked up on cameras in the border city.
It was discovered dumped in Langwathby on Thursday October 19 2023 and it was said in court this week that it had been crashed there by murder accused Jack Crawley, who was driving it to Appleby with Marcus Goodfellow as a passenger.
The jury of six men and six women was also told that between those two dates the car had been parked a few streets away from Jack Crawley’s Carlisle home and that he had taken several photos of it on his phone. They were shown copies of messages that Crawley then sent to various people as he tried to sell the car for £2000.
When the car was located in the village by police, forensic scientists were called in.
Swabs were taken from four areas of the Corsa which contained blood staining – the offside door on the driver’s side, the passenger seat handle, the front floor mat driver’s side and inside the boot.
In the opinion of the forensic scientist this matched the DNA profile of Mr Taylor.
The forensic science report was read out by prosecution barrister David McLachlan KC on Thursday.
He said: “Extensive blood staining was found in the boot area of the blue Vauxhall Corsa including some heavy blood staining.
“These findings are what forensic scientists might expect from an individual being in and around the boot area.
“Overall in the forensic scientist’s opinion, the findings are you might expect that Paul Taylor was injured and bleeding whilst he was still associating with his vehicle in some way.”
Jack Crawley, 20, of Carlisle, denies the murder of Mr Taylor. Marcus Goodfellow, also 20 and from Carlisle, denies assisting an offender to dispose of a vehicle.
The trial continues.
