THE hospital catering manager whose body was found buried in woodland near Carlisle was in touch with his alleged murderer ten months previously, a jury heard.

The phone contact between Annan man Paul Taylor, 56, and 20-year-old Jack Crawley, happened in mid-December of 2022, though the content of the text messages sent by the older man was not recovered.

Crawley admits killing Mr Taylor (pictured below) but he denies murder.

The messages exchanged by the two men were outlined as the prosecution at the city’s crown court took the jury through a timeline of events relevant to Mr Taylor’s death in October last year.

Crawley denies attempting to murder a second man in York several weeks after he killed Mr Taylor.

Paul Taylor.  (Image: Cumbria Police)

He also denies intentionally causing the man in York grievous bodily harm, claiming he acted in self-defence when he struck the man with a hammer during a sexual encounter.

Prosecuting KC David McLachlan said it was anticipated that Crawley would tell the jury that he killed Mr Taylor as a result of an attempt to rob him of his car that had somehow “gone wrong.”

The prosecutor said what happened in York was “an almost carbon copy” of what happened to Mr Taylor in Carlisle in October last year.

Outlining phone evidence, Mr McLachlan said that the earlier contact between Crawley and Mr Taylor happened on December 15, 2022, and then again on Boxing Day that year. None of the messages were recovered.

There was also contact between the two men in July last year.

In a statement made after he went missing from his Annan home, Mr Taylor’s wife said he was a “workaholic,” and often stayed at work late.

Crawley, who worked in security at The Cumberland Infirmary, where Mr Taylor also worked, initially denied even knowing him. But he eventually admitted killing him, telling police where where to find his body.

A senior detective confirmed that Crawley also told detectives the location of the "attack site," where Mr Taylor died. It was Prior Rigg Lane, on the west side of Carlisle, an area which would have been quiet at night.

The 'attack' location, Prior Rigg Lane, west of CarlisleThe 'attack' location, Prior Rigg Lane, west of Carlisle (Image: Newsquest)

The jury heard also about the phone usage of Crawley’s co-defendant Marcus Goodfellow.

The 20-year-old - also working in security at The Cumberland Infirmary - denies a charge of “assisting an offender” – Jack Crawley – by helping him to dispose of Mr Taylor’s car after his death.

Jurors were told of three occasions last year – once in June, and twice September – when Mr Taylor visited the “Private Shop” on London Road, Carlisle, and bought so-called “poppers,” used by gay men to increase sex drive.

An identical bottle of the same substance was found beneath decking at Crawley’s home in Sheehan Crescent, Carlisle.

In written statements, two men who had sexual encounters with Mr Taylor spoke of their contact with him, one saying he recognised him from media coverage of his death.

The first man recalled a period when he met Mr Taylor once a month but no more than ten times. “He was a very nice and gentle guy,” said the man. 

He Mr Taylor was not openly gay and was “very secretive” about meeting up and was available for only short periods, usually late at night.

The second man was a regular visitor to a well-known “hook-up” site east of Carlisle for gay or "sexually curious" men, going there once a week or once a fortnight. “He would usually be there,” said the man, referring to Mr Taylor.

He recalled having three of four sexual encounters with Mr Taylor.

Mr McLachlan questioned Detective Chief Inspector Amanda Sykes about CT scans of Mr Taylor’s skull which were made after police recovered his body from Finglandrigg Nature Reserve, west of Carlisle.

Crawley had directed police to the site. Jurors were shown images of Mr Taylor’s skull, illustrating how fragments of it were missing.

The skull was reconstructed using bone fragments found at the scene. “There was a significant amount of bone missing,” said DCI Sykes.

Police video of the Finglandrigg Wood crime scene showed a “burn site” near to a blue tarpaulin which covered Mr Taylor’s remains.

The prosecution timeline included a photo of a receipt from the Hutton Way Spar shop in Carlisle, confirming that on the evening of October 17 Crawley bought charcoal and two lighters, allegedly used in an attempt to burn Mr Taylor's body.

Crawley remains remanded in custody while Goodfellow, of Greystone Road, Carlisle, is being allowed bail during the trial, which is expected to last for at least four weeks.