THE PROSECUTION case against a Carlisle man accused of knowingly helping a killer to dispose of his victim's car relies on the word of a “compulsive liar,” a jury heard.

Defence barrister Peter Byrne said there was no reliable evidence against his client, 20-year-old Marcus Goodfellow.

A man of good character, who worked alongside murder accused Jack Crawley in security at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary, Goodfellow denies knowing anything about the death of Annan man Paul Taylor when he helped to move his car.

Crawley, also 20, admits the manslaughter of Mr Taylor, a 56-year-old former soldier, but he denies murder. He claims he only ever wanted to steal from Mr Taylor, not to kill him but he was fatally injured during a scuffle as he stole his Vauxhall Corsa.

Goodfellow, of Greystone Road, Carlisle, denies “assisting” Crawley to move the car while knowing its owner was unlawfully killed.

He says he knew nothing about the death of Mr Taylor when he travelled in the car with Crawley, helping him navigate during a "back roads" journey to Appleby which ended prematurely when Crawley crashed. 

In his closing speech, defence advocate Peter Byrne said there was no reliable evidence that Goodfellow knew what happened to Mr Taylor when he went with Crawley in the Corsa on the morning of October 19 last year after a night shift.

The barrister took the jury through what he regards as key reasons for returning a not guilty verdict on Goodfellow.

There was “not a shred of evidence”  for Crawley’s claim that he was controlled by an organised crime group, never mind the claim that Goodfellow worked for the same people, said Mr Byrne.

He suggested that jurors may agree with the prosecution assessment that Crawley’s claim to be controlled by a London gang was “fantastical” and “nonsense.”

Goodfellow and Crawley did not know each other before April of last year and had no face-to-face contact until they worked together at the hospital.

Goodfellow told the jury he regarded his co-defendant as a “colleague” rather than a friend while Crawley (pictured) said Goodfellow was “just a friend.”(Image: Web)

Mr Byrne reminded the jury that Crawley told the jury that messages he sent to Goodfellow about the video game Grand Theft Auto were “code” referring to their forthcoming criminal “missions”.

The barrister said: “There were no communications on their devices prior to April [last year]; there were no missions and there was no criminal gang in the background.

"Jack Crawley made that up to try to explain his actions towards Mr Taylor and him going on the run afterwards.

“The prosecution case, members of the jury, is that Jack Crawley is a compulsive liar. He has made his evidence up as he went along in this very court room.

“You might think that his account is incredible – and I don’t mean that in a good way; I mean that it is incapable of belief. The prosecution suggest that his account is fabricated as he went along.”

But the problem, said Mr Byrne, was that the prosecution wanted jurors to believe what Crawley said about his co-defendant, his claim that Marcus Goodfellow was “in the know.”

The barrister drew the jury’s attention to text messages between the defendants on the morning they took Mr Taylor’s Vauxhall Corsa to Langwathby, where Crawley crashed.

It was clear Goodfellow did not know the purpose of their journey before he got into the Corsa with Crawley, said Mr Byrne. One message asked Crawley: “What is it we’re actually doing?”

Crawley replied: “Taking car to A,” the letter being a reference to the name of his friend in Appleby who was meant to collect the car.

“He would not need to ask what it was they were going if he was in the know,” Mr Byrne told the jury.

The barrister referred the court to a snippet of conversation between the defendants, captured on CCTV, as they took a bus to Sandsfield Park, before going to the Corsa to begin their journey tp Appleby on the morning of October 19.

Crawley could be heard telling Goodfellow: “He let us drive the car for him… erm.” Mr Byrne said: “Despite the prosecution suggesting that Mr Goodfellow must have been in the know, you might conclude that those messages show the exact opposite.”

The barrister asked why Crawley would tell somebody that he had killed a person when that person did not need to know. That would entail the “enormous risk” that they would talk about it.

“Why would Jack Crawley tell him he had killed Mr Taylor?” asked Mr Byrne.

When you consider Crawley effort to conceal the death - concealing the body, going on the run, adopting a disguise and travelling the length of the country - this was consistent with him trying to keep Mr Taylor's death a secret, said Mr Byrne.

Those actions are entirely inconsistent with him telling somebody what he had done. Goodfellow gave police access to his phone and his Instagram accounts and there was no record of him being told about Mr Taylor.

Mr Byrne also addressed the jury about the evidence of the man who gave Goodfellow and Crawley a lift back to Carlisle after Mr Taylor’s Vauxhall Corsa was crashed and abandoned.

That witness recalled Crawley saying “somebody had died.” But he told the police he did not believe Crawley.

The prosecution had not suggested, said Mr Byrne, that the driver who gave that evidence could have known about Mr Taylor’s death, otherwise he would also have been in the dock.

Mr Byrne asked: “How would Marcus Goodfellow have known that Jack Crawley had killed Paul Taylor? The only way is that if Jack Crawley had told him. Mr Goodfellow is not alleged to been involved earlier…

“The prosecution did not accept Jack Crawley’s defence statement; they can’t pick and choose what Mr Crawley is lying about and what he is telling the truth about.”

The jury could reject any suggestion that Crawley told Goodfellow about the circumstances in which he came to have Paul Taylor’s car, said Mr Byrne.

Crawley himself had told the jury he told Goodfellow  “someone had died” but he thought his co-defendant did not believe him. Mr Byrne added: “There is no prosecution evidence that Mr Goodfellow knew Paul Taylor had died.”

The jury will begin considering their verdicts after the judge in the case, The Honourable Mr Justice Goose, finishes his summing up.

Crawley, of Sheehan Crescent, Carlisle, who also denies attempting to murder a man in York, remains remanded in custody while Goodfellow has been on bail.