Banbury double murder trial: Jury starts deliberations over stabbings

At Oxford Crown Court this week, Raymond Morgan insisted it was not him and he does not know who murdered Adrian Fannon and Mark Pawley.

Judge Ian Pringle QC summarised the prosecution and defence’s cases this morning before sending them out.

Families of both victims and the defendant now face a nervous wait until the jury comes to a decision.

The prosecution said in their closing speech on Wednesday, Morgan stabbed the men in his living room on October 1, 2017, repeatedly with two knives because he was ripped off by them and did not like drug users and dealers in his house.

Adrian Redgrave QC, prosecuting, added Morgan’s multiple stories for what happened was to ‘explain the inexplicable and escape the inescapable’.

In the defence closing, Tracy Ayling QC picked holes in parts of the prosecution’s evidence and theory, saying ‘the truth is stranger than fiction’.

Summing up, Judge Ian Pringle QC said to the jury, “ultimately the facts of this case remain for you to decide”.

Morgan had claimed he woke up to find Mr Fannon lying bloodied against the television stand and he knocked out Mr Pawley after he lunged at him with a knife.