Banbury murder trial: Pair killed in 'savage attack'

The two men who were killed in Banbury last year were stabbed to death a total of 30 times in a '˜sustained and savage attack'˜, a court heard today (Tuesday, March 6).
In the courtsIn the courts
In the courts

Raymond Morgan is accused of murdering Adrian Fannon and Mark Pawley in his flat on Newland Road in October last year. He pleaded not guilty in January.Prosecution lawyer Adrian Redgrave said at Oxford Crown Court that Morgan gave three different versions of what happened and he said in his cell: “At least that’s two druggy b******* off the street.”Morgan took himself to Banbury Police Station on the day the men were found, saying he had stabbed two people to death during an epileptic fit, before adding: “I had voices in my head at the time telling me to do bad things.”In other versions, the 53-year-old accused two unidentified black men of the crime, and also claimed self-defence.“[Morgan] had a problem. There were two bodies covered in blood, stabbed to death, in his flat,” Mr Redgrave said.“He could hardly dispose of them so seven to eight hours later, he went to the police station with, as we may consider, a sort of explanation, ‘I had an epileptic fit and stabbed these two people.’”“Well that is palpable nonsense that in an epileptic fit he could have done all that and pretty soon he was going to realise that wasn’t the best he could offer and then we get the next versions.”The court saw bodyworn camera footage from one of the police officers that was called to the address at around 6.45pm on October 1, 2017.They broke the door in and found two bodies on the floor of the living room, both covered over with duvets and blankets. Both bodies had stab wounds. Among the other items found in the room were two blood-stained knives, two blood-stained pairs of scissors, a broken stool and drug paraphernalia.

There was also blood in the bathroom sink along with Morgan’s DNA, and a bloody footprint in the corridor.“Adrian Fannon and Mark Pawley had been stabbed repeatedly in a sustained and savage attack,” Mr Redgrave said.Texts from the dead men’s phones showed they were still alive at around 8am, having gone to Morgan’s flat at around 3.30am after a drug deal, but were killed sometime after 9am.A neighbour said she heard banging and crashing from Morgan’s flat below at around 9.50am, which ‘shook her whole house’ and ‘sounded like a bull had been let loose’.Morgan was seen leaving his home at around 10.10am, and in Banbury town centre, before going to the police station later that day.The accused said he had stabbed the men during an epileptic fit and could not remember much, before having another fit and being taken to hospital for treatment.A friend of Morgan’s, David Williams, said in a statement the defendant had become paranoid and developed trust issues after he started to take heroin 12 months before the alleged murders.He had been kicked out of his home of 20 years in Bretch Hill by his wife because of the drug issues, with him living in a tent or in his car before being granted the Newland Road flat by Cherwell District Council in June 2017.The court heard how his flat had become a drug den with users and dealers using it regularly, which he told a police officer he was sick of during a raid in September last year.Mr Williams was at Morgan’s flat the night before the incident, and saw Mr Fannon and Mr Pawley arrive. He said in his statement that the atmosphere was relaxed but he left when they started discussing drugs.The trial continues, and is expected to last up to three weeks.