An alleged killer claimed he acted in self-defence when he hit another man with a hammer at an airfield south of York. 

Jack Crawley, 20, is charged with attempting to murder the other man at Acaster Malbis. 

He is also charged with murdering a man in Cumbria. He denies both charges.

Answering questions in the witness box from defence barrister Toby Hedworth KC, Crawley said he got in with a "bad crowd" and began using drugs while still at school.

“Did you get involved in what might be called the drugs world?” asked Mr Hedworth. Crawley said he did. “They started advertising the lifestyle to me; I thought it was cool at the time.

“I started getting into it for the money; into cocaine. It was a few months before my 14th birthday.”

Crawley said he accrued a “significant debt".

He recounted an occasion when he stole drugs and cash from an address where there was a party going on and this led to him being “in debt” to a Cumbria based crime gang.

The debt was for around £5,000, he said.

Crawley said: “They just made it up as they we went along… It’s something you can’t escape from. They started getting me to take things, packages, to other people."

“Were there threats made to you?” asked Mr Hedworth.

Crawley replied: “Yes. They threatened to make me disappear.”

Threats were also made to his family, he said. Crawley said he had moved away from Carlisle to Appleby for a while to avoid the gang who were threatening him.

He found a job with at a leisure centre there.

Crawley continued: “It didn’t last. I’m pretty sure that somebody told them where I was living.” He found himself having to work for the gang again and he returned to Carlisle, moving in with his mother.

Asked about the things he had to do, Crawley said it involved “taxing,” or stealing from other criminals.

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Of his alleged attempt to murder a man at Acaster Malbis airfield south of York several weeks after the alleged murder in Cumbria, Crawley said he acted in self-defence after his accuser threatened him with a flick knife.

Crawley, of Sheehan Crescent, Carlisle, remains remanded in custody.