"Body in a suitcase" murder trial day six - live updates (From Bournemouth Echo)

3:07pm

And that's it for the day- court resumes on Monday 

3:04pm

Judge telling jury everything they've heard about other people as part of evidence is not evidence against the other co-defendants and should not be treated as such 

3:02pm

Judge telling jury everything they've heard about other people as part of evidence is not evidence against the other co-defendants and should not be treated as such 

2:55pm

Another letter to Wayne Cooper. He writes "Geoff didnt rape my sister he says he would- well his exact words was 'I'd do her if she wanted it or not'"

2:51pm

He also writes "dan and tiff called the police and told them me Henry and lee killed him because dan tried drawing out geoff's money and then **** himself that he might get the blame"

2:49pm

In another letter to Wayne Cooper he says he hit Mr Reed because he said he would rape his sister

2:47pm

Line in the final poem that says "she never judges anything that I'd do / she didn't care that I was in love with you"

2:46pm

Also a poem called Me, You and Cannie . Cannie was a dog that belonged to Stuart- he was given her for his 21st birthday. Final poem just called Cannie

2:45pm

Stuart includes some poems. One about Daniel which reads "my bro has got my gun / he wants revenge and wants some fun". Also includes the lines "better run hope and pray". Doesn't seem like the poem was actually sent to Daniel 

2:42pm

Stuart has written to Benjamin including a guide to making "hooch". Says he can take 15 blue pills for depression at a time with the hooch but won't overdose because his son needs a day 

2:40pm

In the letter he has added something about Lee- unclear if this addition was actually sent to Lee or just Benjamin. He writes "why did you dump the coat and stuff in the shed and then lie to me face about it. So remember that if you do lie about Henry (Benjamin) I am finished with you for good"

2:37pm

And another. Stuart missing his son- he says "I miss my son so much he is the only thing I've got going for me". He tells Benjamin "hope we are still on the same side for now and for life"

2:35pm

And another letter from Stuart to Benjamin. He said "it's killing me being separated from you. I miss you like hell" 

2:33pm

He writes "I never killed him, me and lee know who did it as well don't you mate and I ain't going to keep schtum for Dan any more but if I do tell the police what happened I won't end up in a suitcase or worse a member of my family might end up dead and the last person I want to be killed is the one I love with all my heart"

2:31pm

Another letter from Stuart to Benjamin. Stuart made sure his family sent Benjamin birthday cards when he was in prison. Seems like they stopped talking. Stuart writes "please tell me why you don't want to be mates"

2:29pm

He tells Benjamin he has listed him as his next of kin "because you are the closest person to me". He says they are both "the black sheep" of their families. "We are both outcast who have found a home together"

2:27pm

He says he wakes up crying and is on anti-depressants because he has "lost everything I care about"

2:27pm

Letter from Stuart to Benjamin. He talks about Daniel, flat mate who called the police to report a murder. "The police haven't got any proof then who killed him. For all they know Dan could have stabbed him with a screwdriver and blamed us to save his own skin"

2:23pm

Letter from Stuart to his grandmother. He seems angry at her and writes "I know I wasn't a brilliant grandson and if you hate me that much why can't you tell me to my face instead of going behind my back"

2:20pm

At the bottom of the letter there's an extract from his grandmother's statement to police

2:19pm

Stuart writing to his sister Charlene. More of the same - "I am really sorry for everything I have done and if I could change what happened I would do"

2:18pm

Back and more letters being read out to the court

1:07pm

Court breaks for lunch 

1:01pm

Stuart asked Benjamin if they should change their plea to guilty to get "a third knocked off". He is listing his best memories with the two of then together

12:57pm

Another letter from Stuart to Benjamin. "It's like we was made for each other. I never had a friend like you and it's like we clicked straight away". "I would sooner lose the fight with you and lee than win it on my own"

12:56pm

More about Harry Potter. He says he is a Weasley because he has a big family and Benjamin, who doesn't have a family, has found a home with him, so he is Harry Potter. Again, Reed is Voldemort because he is "evil and twisted" and "ruining people's lives"

12:53pm

Also compared them to "three amigos". Also some lines about being able to face anything if they are together. "I love you and always do mate"

12:52pm

He said the report in the Sun made them look like heroes while report in Echo made then look like "a bunch of thugs". 

12:49pm

Letter from Stuart to Benjamin. "If it comes out that we planned it time and time again we will be in deep **** and if they find out about the bet we have with your brother about killing Geoffrey"

12:44pm

Bit about what it's like in prison now- how easy to get hold of drugs. "I miss three people- my boy, my grandad and you [benjamin]." "My brother will do anything for me, even murder." He said, "no one crosses the Wareham's"

12:42pm

Stuart tells his mum "every time I see him laid on the floor I'm being sick". In another letter to Benjamin he tells him "me and you are best mates forever" and says he will look after him. "I'm so bored without you to talk to mate".

12:37pm

He writes: "One more paedo off the streets so he can't prey on any more kids"

12:36pm

"I wish I went to the police when it first happened instead of keeping quiet and burying the body at nan's" he writes

12:35pm

Stuart writes to his mum to ask her to come to court for him and support him. He said "I don't want to turn on them, they are family at the end of the day"

12:34pm

He also says in the letter "youre Harry [potter], I'm Fred Weasley and lee is Lupin". He calls Mr Reed "Voldemort"

12:32pm

Letter to Stuart from Benjamin "it's no comment all the way mate. All three of us are the Three Musketeers". He then writes "all for one and one for all lol". "If they want to send you down they can send me down as well". Refers to him as "brother" and says "we've all got a dark side"

12:29pm

He says to Kelly "we all made a pact to say nothing no matter what happens". He says he wishes he could turn back time and says "I know I have made the biggest mistake of my life". Again, he says he hit Reed first and then lee and Benjamin stamped on him. He said he turned around and there was a "screwdriver sticking out of his head"

12:26pm

He says "I regret it happened every day but I'm not sorry for not telling the police what happened". Next letter to Kelly "I would sooner be dead then grass on my family and friends". He apologised for making her drive to bury Mr Reed

12:25pm

Now looking at letters Stuart sent and received in custody. First sent to Charlene Wareham. He thanks her for visiting and said "I hate it here so much". Then he tells her that lee killed Mr Reed by stabbing him with screwdriver. He said "we all played our part in it- if I hadn't hit him first to make him fall to the floor lee and Benjamin would not have stamped on him". He says sorry for everything he's done.

12:17pm

In final interview it was explained to him that Reed's body had been found and he was thought to have been in the flat when he was killed. Lee made "no comment" answers to all questions on this occasion

12:16pm

He says he did not hear or see Reed when he arrived. 

12:15pm

That's that for Benjamin. Summary of lee's interview now. He was interviewed three times in three days from June 12. He said he was sleeping rough at the time. On June 7 he went to meet Stuart at Cecil Road

12:14pm

He said "I ain't done no murder. I ain't killed anyone". He tells police he wished he hadn't buried Geoff but he didnt want to be alone in a house where someone had just been murdered 

12:13pm

B said "Geoff won't stand up for himself verbally". Adds "I go up there with him so that he gets what he's asked for and I help him get that." 

12:13pm

B said "Geoff won't stand up for himself verbally". Adds "I go up there with him so that he gets what he's asked for and I help him get that." 

12:12pm

The DC takes Benjamin back to his visit to nationwide with Mr Reed. He said the woman behind the counter described him as "aggressive". He is told "you were the instigator, asking for money"

12:10pm

Sorry for typos, going as quickly as possible on phone 

12:09pm

That evening he got a text saying "I've got petrol" but he doesn't know who sent it and he didnt see it in his phone. That makes him assume lee took the jacket

12:08pm

The screwdriver was then given to someone. He adds "I think lee took it".

12:07pm

He says he saw blood coming out of Mr Reed's ear and something could have been put in there. "It could have been a screwdriver. Could have been a knife". He said he saw something like a screwdriver in Stuart's hand 

12:05pm

He said he played no part in it. "I've got nothing against anyone. All I had to do is when I look at someone I are the good side. I don't see the bad side in no one. Or the dark side"

12:04pm

DC Pryce, who was interviewing Benjamin, asks him "there's got to be something to have promoted Stuart to have attacked Geoff" but Benjamin said "I honestly don't know... There's nothing I can think of"

12:01pm

No one said anything about the body for a little while even though it was lying on the floor, Benjamin told police. He says "then someone says 'well you can at least get rid if it' and that's when the idea of calling Kelly comes into it"

11:57am

By the time he was back in the bedroom he was wearing his own clothes. When he came back he could hear noises in the bathroom. He said it was "like a bath panel being moved about. As if... Someone trying to fit something in a small space. It's like putting a body in a suitc... Not a suitcase into a carrier bag."

11:55am

He walked around the block. Then he went back into the flat through the bedroom window. Someone had opened it for him. He said "I think I got told by Stuart to go round the block and then come back in through a window yeah? I think. I'm not 100 per cent positive."

11:53am

He said he wore Geoffrey's shoes and coat and carried a bag. He said "I just carried a bag out so it looked as if geoff's going away on holiday down to Weymouth"

11:50am

He said he heard a thudding noise about "three, four times. By the fifth time he was dead". Then asked about CCTV of Benjamin walking out of flat with reed's jacket on. He says "after the victim was murdered I was told I had to walk out as him so it didnt look like a murder- so it looked like he'd gone away". 

11:49am

Asked by police what he chose to do and he said "I walked away. I walked away. I didn't want any part of it". Benjamin said Mr Reed was his dad's age. He said "it's like my dad getting done the same. That's why it makes me feel ill"

11:46am

Benjamin said he saw Stuart on top of Mr Reed and that's when he asked him to get the victim some water. B thought "well, look, he's done what he's done, that's it." Then five or ten minutes later he heard the final thud and saw Mr Reed dead. He said "I looked in the mirror and my face us white. My eyes are bulging with the shock"

11:41am

Stuart then cleaned the bathroom with bleach, Benjamin says

11:40am

He says that he says to Stuart "how can you live with yourself with what you've done?" And Stuart replied "easy. I just think of the children's lives he ruined"

11:39am

Benjamin said Kelly had wondered why Stuart was upset. B tells police "the reason he looked upset was because he had just committed a murder". After digging a hole on Stuart's nan's farm Benjamin said he told him "I don't want to be a part of this"

11:39am

Benjamin said Kelly had wondered why Stuart was upset. B tells police "the reason he looked upset was because he had just committed a murder". After digging a hole on Stuart's nan's farm Benjamin said he told him "I don't want to be a part of this"

11:35am

Stuart then text his sister Kelly. She called and Benjamin said Stuart begged her to come over because he needed to get rid of a dead dog. He said he never saw anyone put Mr Reed's body in the suitcase

11:34am

He went back to bathroom and when he came out the body was gone but a suitcase was on the floor

11:33am

He held Tiffany and daniel's door closed so they couldn't come out and see the body. They put him on the floor behind the sofa with an Aldi bag on his head, Benjamin said

11:32am

He says Stuart tipped water into Mr Reed's mouth. He said he heard one last thud from where he was in the bathroom and that was it. He came out and Geoffrey was dead in the floor

11:31am

He said he walked towards bathroom but was in shock. Lee was in the bathroom too. He says he could hear "thudding as if stamping"

11:30am

In his interview on the final occasion, the account is different. He said that when he and Stuart walk in through the door Stuart took Mr Reed by throat and pinned him up against the wall

11:27am

He said he never saw any texts on his phone about petrol or butning clothes. Before his fifth and final interview he was told Mr Reed's body had been found. 

11:25am

Difference between his account of contents of suitcase and stuart's

11:24am

Asked about dead dog Stuart said he buried and said he was looking after a Labrador belonging to Stuart's friend but she was hit by car driving without lights on and died. He saw the dog in the suitcase at the flat and it was taken to Stuart's nan's farm to bury it

11:23am

In his third interview on June 11, Benjamin was asked to account for suitcase getting into Stuart's sister's car. He said it was "irrelevant" but later said Stuart put it in the boot

11:20am

He said he last saw Mr Reed on June 7. He said he and Reed left flat to go to Nationwide and Reed withdrew £2.56. When they returned they had tea and cigarettes. Walter then went into bathroom but realised he didn't have his pants. Saw front door was shut and was told Reed had gone to Weymouth

11:18am

Benjamin interviewed five times over four day period from June 11. He again told police about Mr Reed going to visit a friend in weymouth

11:16am

That was from a summary of the interviews with Stuart. Now summary of interviews with Benjamin to come

11:14am

On June 13, Stuart interviewed again. He began making "no comment" to questions including if he had lied, if he had killed Geoffrey reed, and if he buried the suitcase. He was then interviewed on June 14 after discovery of body and asked to account for body being found and injuries sustained by Mr Reed. He replies "no comment" to all questions

11:12am

Stuart said he had a suitcase filled with stolen bank cards and receipts- about 200-300 receipts and a couple of credit cards which he burned at his nan's house. He said he thought the police were after him and told his sister it was a dog that needed to be buried when she gave him a lift

11:10am

He said Lee cane to the flat on June 6 and he told lee Mr Reed had done 10 years in prison. Lee said "he needs to get a hiding, get done over" and Stuart said "yeah" but just to end conversation

11:09am

Stuart said he was best friends with Mr Reed and would never harm him 

11:07am

He said he thought Mr Reed was going to see a friend called Mike in Weymouth, and knew nothing about his disappearance 

11:06am

Stuart said he and Benjamin are "friends with benefits". He punched Mr Reed in march 2012 after he revealed he was a sex offender, putting him in hospital, but they had made up

11:05am

He said he had met Mr Reed and his other flat mates at St Paul's night shelter. He said he'd consider them all to be best friends 

11:05am

Stuart interviewed six times over four day period from June 11, one day after his arrest

10:41am

Late start today, probably about 11am, but some interesting evidence to come - police interviews with all three defendants 

9:53am

Good morning. Day six of the trial begins at 10.30am today