An eyewitness testified seeing a man kneeling over the victim in Wallsend. The victim had serious injuries following the assault.
Prosecutors say George Ness killed John Smyth. Ness allegedly used a piece of wood to attack John after John tried to stop a burglary. The burglary target was Bridie Nye’s home in Wallsend. Ness denies murdering John, who was 63. The incident occurred last September, and Ness is on trial in Newcastle Crown Court.
John Terrill, who lived nearby at the time, said he was asleep. He awoke to what sounded like fighting, thinking it was two men. He described the sounds as boards being ripped and said the sounds came from the backyard.
He got out of bed and put on clothes. He went to the back door and listened. He heard Bridie shouting something that sounded like she would call the police.
He listened until everything became quiet. John felt scared and worried; he needed to see what was happening and wanted to know.
He opened the back door and saw a man on the floor with another man on top of him. The man on the floor lay on his back and did not move at all. John had serious injuries, and the injuries seemed from an assault.
The man on top had his knees on the ground on either side of the body. John thinks opening the door startled the man. He did not know what the man was doing.
The man looked at him and said, “He owed us money.” The witness did not recognize the accent.
The man stood up, using his knee under the body as he rose to lift the body. He heard a thud when the man stood. It was five in the morning, and everything was very quiet.
John initially thought the man wore tie-dye. He then thought the shirt had slits, and believed the man was stabbed. He said the victim was not moving, and he knew he was dead. He heard the thud when the man stood up.
The other man heard the thud, too. He panicked and realized the victim was dead and that the witness knew this also. The man said someone was his right-hand man. He tiptoed to the gate and then left.
Ness, 41, is from Avon Avenue, North Shields. He denies murder and aggravated burglary. He also denies having a bladed article but claims he was acting in self-defense.
The trial continues in court.