Colwyn Bay murder trial – defendants blamed each other for man's death

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 at his home on November 20, 2023.

All three defendants appeared at Mold Crown Court today (June 19) as their trial continued.

Today, the jury was read witness statements and shown extracts from body worn camera footage of the arrests of Webster and Harris, and a conversation between a police officer and Whiteley.

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Colwyn Bay murder trial - 'I stabbed him twice', woman told co-defendant

Colwyn Bay murder trial - the events which led to David Wilcox's death

David Wilcox (Image: Flora Camacho-Clowes)

The court previously heard that Mr Wilcox, who has been described as having had a relationship with Harris, was stabbed twice and assaulted with a weapon in his home on Bay View Road.

All of the defendants, having been in his home, then made off in his car, which then crashed moments later on an A55 slip road.

David Webster's arrest

After being chased by a police dog, Webster was arrested at 2.36am, initially on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, down an alleyway leading to the Ivy Street car park.

In the following hour-and-a-half, as more information came to officers’ attention, he was further arrested on suspicion of two counts of possession of a bladed article, more motoring offences, and latterly murder and robbery.

As he was placed into a police car following his initial arrest, Webster was heard to say: “It was a girl driving the car; she got it stuck.”

A police cordon was put in place following the incident on November 20 (Image: Submitted)

Other comments he made included: “I’ve not done anything wrong” and “I didn’t have no bladed article”.

After he was further arrested on suspicion of murder at 4.01am, he said: “What? S** off. You need to speak to that Lauren Harrison (sic - Harris).”

Webster, by now in custody in St Asaph, claimed to officers that Harris “tried stabbing me” and “tried stabbing another lad”, labelling her a “crazy b****”.

What Thomas Whiteley told police

Ryan Williams, a police constable, attended the address of Whiteley’s ex-partner just before 3.30am, after Whiteley himself had called police claiming to have witnessed a stabbing.

Footage of the conversation between PC Williams and a “distraught” and “crying” Whiteley was played to the jury, in which Whiteley said: “He’s been battered… he’s been stabbed… I panicked; I just legged it.”

When asked by PC Williams: “Is it Lauren that stabbed him?”, Whiteley answered: “Yeah, twice.”

He said he was told after the incident in Mr Wilcox’s home to “get in the car”, or his family was “going to get it”.

Whiteley also told the officer he had held Mr Wilcox on the floor “to try and make him stay down so they (Harris and Webster) wouldn’t hit him anymore”.

And while he said Mr Wilcox “bottled” him, he told PC Williams: “I don’t blame him”, adding that he thought he did so to try to “knock me out to put me out of danger, because he could see how scared I was”.

David Wilcox (Image: Flora Camacho-Clowes)

Whiteley was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor having sustained a head injury of his own.

While there, at about 7.35am - by which time he had also been arrested - he said: “I didn’t do ‘owt; I was just there. I didn’t do anything. I got to somewhere safe and called you guys.

“That horrible, stupid girl… nobody deserves that.”

Lauren Harris' arrest

The jury was also shown footage of Harris’ arrest, which took place at about 10.50pm down an alleyway in Colwyn Bay on November 20.

Harris, pulling her hood tightly to her face “as if to conceal her identity”, was repeatedly asked for her name by officers, to which she replied: “Why? I don’t really want to tell you. You know who I am anyway… it’s Lauren, obviously.”

After being told she was being arrested on suspicion of murder, she said: “No-one’s done anything wrong. What do you mean, murder?

The Volvo car (right) after it was crashed (Image: Submitted)

“I’m not being funny… I don’t know why you’ve pulled me in for this when there are another two people that have done what they’ve done - and you’re pulling me in for the s*** that they’ve done.

“Why am I getting nicked for it? It doesn’t make sense to me… I’ve done f*** all, anyway.”

At 11.05pm, an officer heard Harris whispering to herself: “They’ve killed him, haven’t they?”

Shortly after midnight on November 21, Harris, by now in a custody cell, asked an officer “if he had died”, adding: “I’m in here because of what them two have done. It wasn’t me.”

The police cordon in place in Colwyn Bay on November 20 (Image: Aaran Lennox)

Forensic findings

Images of stains of blood found in Mr Wilcox’s home, including on a Smirnoff vodka bottle and on his kitchen floor, were also shown to the jury.

Nicholas Smith, a forensic scientist who examined the scene of the attack, said it appeared to him that multiple blows were struck to Mr Wilcox while he was already lying injured and bleeding on his kitchen floor.

The prosecution alleges that Harris was responsible for stabbing Mr Wilcox, and Webster and Whiteley for unlawful violence towards him, with all three ultimately responsible for his death.

The trial will resume tomorrow.