JURORS in the case of a hospital security guard who is accused of murder and attempted murder have retired to consider their verdicts.

Jack Crawley, 20, of no fixed address, denies the attempted murder of a man near York on January 5. 

He admits the manslaughter of Annan man Paul Taylor, 56, on October 17, saying that he was stealing the former soldier’s car when the ex-serviceman fell and was fatally injured. 

The prosecution claim Crawley's actions on both occasions were similar and that he intended to kill both men.

Crawley claims  the man he is accused of attempting to kill threatened him with a knife during a sexual encounter at Acaster Malbis disused airfield south of York.  He then struck the man with a hammer while acting in self-defence. 

The prosecution say Crawley met Mr Taylor, following previous sexual contact, late on October 17 last year and subjected him to “multiple blows” with a hammer before hiding his body at Finglandrigg Nature Reserve, Cumbria.

He later told police where he had buried the body, though only skeletal remains were recovered from the site. A pathologist confirmed that Mr Taylor had sustained at least ten “impact” fractures to his skull and face.

According to the prosecution, Crawley used a hammer to inflict those injuries while Mr Taylor was alive. The defendant says he used a hammer on Mr Taylor after he died in an attempt to make his body “disappear.”

Crawley said he was being controlled by a London based criminal gang and made to commit crimes. That was why he wanted to steal Mr Taylor's car, he said.

He denies intending to kill him.

In the dock alongside Crawley is Marcus Goodfellow, 20, who denies that he knowingly helped his co-defendant to dispose of Mr Taylor’s car. The prosecution say he knew the car’s owner was unlawfully killed.

Goodfellow, of Greystone Road, Carlisle, who worked with Crawley in security at The Cumberland Infirmary, said he had no knowledge of what happened to Mr Taylor when he travelled in his Vauxhall Corsa with Crawley.

The two defendants were taking the Vauxhall Corsa to Appleby October 19 last year when Crawley crashed and they then abandoned the car.

Goodfellow said he first linked the Vauxhall to the then missing Mr Taylor some weeks later when he saw the car in a missing poster that was put up at The Cumberland Infirmary, appealing for information.

Crawley also denies intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm on the man near York during the incident. The allegation is an alternative to attempted murder.

The jury at Carlisle Crown Court will resume their deliberations tomorrow.