THE man accused of murdering Annan dad Paul Taylor told others he was glad he was gone, it was claimed in court yesterday.
Jack Crawley, 20, is on trial at Carlisle Crown Court and has denied murder but admitted manslaughter and unlawful killing. He has also denied a charge of attempted murder, relating to a separate attack in York.
A second man on trial, Marcus Goodfellow, 20, of Greystone Road, Carlisle, has denied assisting an offender by helping to dispose of Mr Taylor’s vehicle in October 2023.
Yesterday, during the third day of the trial, a police interview was played featuring Callum Bell, who had picked up both accused men in the village of Langwathby and driven them to Carlisle. Bell says he received a Snapchat message from Goodfellow, which he admitted was “unusual”, asking if he could pick him up near Langwathby. Bell – who said he was friends with Goodfellow but had never met Crawley before – agreed to pick them up but said he never knew the reasons why he had been asked.
Goodfellow jumped into the passenger seat whilst Crawley got into the back of the car. Crawley was noted by Bell as being quiet in the back seat but then blurted out that a man had died. Bell said: “Goodfellow was saying it had been a long night. Then Jack said that someone had died, a drug dealer, and said he was worse than Jeffrey Dahmer. I think he was just saying it out loud.
“The instant thing that went through my mind was just that he died of old age or something that’s not recent. He never connected it to the car or anything. He just said it out loud and almost flaunting it in a way, it was weird.”
Bell said that Goodfellow quickly changed the conversation to work related chat. He added: “Crawley was just quiet and reserved and wasn’t talkative. He was more calm than anything then he just popped up with that.”
Bell described the vibe of the journey as “dodgy”. He added: “They were both just smiling and happy about it, just as if it was an accomplishment or fun or whatever. It wasn’t as if he was sad that someone had died or passed away. It was just the tone it was said it in. The tone was like he is worse than Jeffery Dahmer, it’s a better world without him in it and getting rid of one more rat. Crawley said that he was glad that he was gone.”
Bell stated he told the pair that he would take them to the police station to “see what their reaction was”. He was persuaded not to by the duo so went to a Greggs in Carlisle city centre. Crawley then walked off into the city whilst Bell dropped Goodfellow back off home.
However, defence lawyers for both defendants queried Mr Bell’s recollection of the facts and the context of the chats in the car. Toby Hedworth KC, for Jack Crawley, said: “Do you accept or not that you may have picked bits up accurately but perhaps got the context of the words being said wrong?”
“Possibly,” replied Bell, who took the witness stand yesterday afternoon.
“The reality is you did not go to the police did you? Notwithstanding what you thought may have gone on,” added Mr Hedworth. Bell answered: “No, I never.” He later added: “I had a hunch something was going on but I never went to the police for my own safety.”
Peter Byrne, counsel for Marcus Goodfellow, asked Mr Bell to be clear that it was “only Jack Crawley that made any reference to someone dying”, which he confirmed.
Earlier in the day, jurors heard how security guard Crawley had phoned in sick to his work later that evening where he said he had “sprained his leg” and couldn’t do the shift.
The trial will resume on Monday
