A MAN from Colwyn Bay was killed after being attacked by three people in his own home, who then crashed his car within minutes of fleeing the scene, a court heard.
Lauren Harris, 29, of no fixed abode; David Webster, 43, of Lacey Street, Widnes; and Thomas Whiteley, 33, of Clos Emlyn, Old Colwyn; all deny murdering 65-year-old David Wilcox on November 20, 2023.
All three defendants appeared at Mold Crown Court today (June 11) as their trial began.
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Delivering the prosecution’s opening speech, Andrew Ford KC told the jury that Mr Wilcox was stabbed twice to the chest, and suffered “significant blows to the head”.
The prosecution, Mr Ford said, alleges that Harris was responsible for the stabbings, and Webster and Whiteley for unlawful violence, with all three ultimately responsible for Mr Wilcox’s death.
'He presented an opportunity from which she could benefit'
Mr Wilcox was described by Mr Ford as a “gregarious, generous man”, whose generosity “spilled over with the people he met, including, sometimes, strangers”.
Last June, he met Harris outside the Black Cloak pub in Colwyn Bay, when they “got talking”.
A relationship developed between them, and she soon moved in to his home on Bay View Road.
It is the prosecution’s case that Harris “took advantage” of Mr Wilcox, and that, to her, “he presented an opportunity from which she could benefit”.
In the following months, concerns grew among those close to Mr Wilcox about the nature of the relationship – one friend said he “seemed to be driving her around a lot at night”.
When asked about the relationship, Mr Wilcox would say he wanted to “help” or “save” Harris.
Several people said Mr Wilcox appeared to be repeatedly lending Harris money, his sons noting that he began to ask them for loans.
'Dad brigade'
So concerned were his four sons about their father’s apparent decline that one of their partners started a WhatsApp group with them, named “dad brigade”, to keep a “mutual eye on him”.
By the time of his death, his bank account was overdrawn, with more than £12,000 having been withdrawn from it between June and November 2023.
Recovered messages suggest that Harris and Webster first met on November 14; in the days that followed, Mr Wilcox was described as essentially acting as their “courier”.
At about 5.45pm on November 19, Harris and Webster came across Whiteley in Colwyn Bay, with the defendants seen on CCTV entering Mr Wilcox’s home at 8.15pm that night.
Shortly before 2am on November 20, Harris was said to have made multiple attempts to withdraw money from Mr Wilcox’s account, but failed due to it having insufficient funds.
At 2.10am, Harris emerged from Mr Wilcox’s home and got into his red Volvo car; by then, the prosecution claim, he had sustained his fatal injuries.
“He’d been stabbed in the chest and battered about the head with an object, inside his own home, when the three defendants were there,” Mr Ford said.
Footage captured Harris sitting in the driver’s seat of Mr Wilcox’s car outside his home, shouting “come on” and sounding the horn repeatedly.
Once Webster and Whiteley entered the vehicle, she drove away, but less than a minute later, the car crashed.
'I stabbed him twice'
Harris and Webster fled the scene together, and she could be heard saying: “I stabbed him twice” and telling him to “take your hat off; it’ll have his (Mr Wilcox’s) blood on”.
Whiteley fled alone, heading to the home of an ex-partner wearing just his underwear, having discarded his clothes.
Items recovered by officers included Mr Wilcox’s bank card, phone, house and car keys, and his two wallets; one of which was found in the same bin as Harris’ coat.
Webster was arrested shortly after 2.30am having been pursued by an officer with a police dog; footage of this chase showed him throwing away two wristwatches, one of which was Mr Wilcox’s.
At 3.10am, Whiteley rang police claiming to have witnessed a robbery and a stabbing, saying he had been threatened to get into a car with those responsible, which then crashed.
When police learnt that Mr Wilcox was the registered keeper of the Volvo, they attended his address.
Inside, officers found an empty vodka bottle, as well as evidence of drug use.
Police found Mr Wilcox unresponsive in an armchair; though attempts were made to revive him, he was pronounced dead at about 5.15am.
Whiteley, meanwhile, continued to tell an officer his version of events, saying Mr Wilcox hit him with a bottle, but adding: “I didn’t stab him; I held him down to the floor and got him to stay down so they couldn’t hit him anymore.”
He was then arrested after this officer was informed of what his colleagues had discovered at Mr Wilcox’s address.
It was not until the evening of November 20 that Harris was found, telling officers upon her arrest that “two other people are responsible”.
The two knives recovered from Mr Wilcox’s Volvo, the vodka bottle found in his home, the sleeve of Harris’ discarded coat, and Harris’ left shoe were all revealed to have traces of his blood on them.
His blood was also found on Webster’s trainers, jacket, trousers and hat, and on Whiteley’s jacket, which had been discarded near the seafront.
A pathologist found that Mr Wilcox sustained two stab wounds, as well as injuries consistent with him having been struck with a solid object – “such as a blood-stained vodka bottle,” Mr Ford added.
What the defendants said in their police interviews
When interviewed by police, Harris denied any involvement in Mr Wilcox’s death, saying he had given her his bank card to withdraw money that night.
When she returned to his home, she said she saw Mr Wilcox hit Whiteley with a vodka bottle and tell him to “get out”.
She said she then saw both men kicking Mr Wilcox to the face on the floor, and then left after she tried to help him, adding: “I have not used any knives”.
Webster told police he and Harris had taken drugs at Mr Wilcox’s home in the company of another person with whom he was not previously familiar (Whiteley).
He said an argument began between Harris and Mr Wilcox, leading to Harris striking him with a vodka bottle and punching, kicking and stabbing him, while saying Whiteley was also violent to him.
Whiteley said that, after he “bumped into” Harris and Webster that night, they all went to the home of someone Harris called her “sugar daddy”.
He also claimed an argument began between her and Mr Wilcox, which led to her attacking him violently, with Webster having “joined in”.
“We say all three are responsible for Mr Wilcox’s death,” Mr Ford said.
“A flashpoint occurred after some hours of drinking and drug-taking, at which events suddenly turned nasty and violent.
“We say it was an attack in which he was stabbed twice, and assaulted with a weapon, causing significant and different injuries.”
The trial is due to last three to four weeks.
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