Man tells court '˜If I wanted someone shot I'd do it myself'

A man accused of setting up a plot to shoot his ex's new love has told a court 'If I wanted someone shot I'd do it myself.'
Preston Crown CourtPreston Crown Court
Preston Crown Court

Kevin King, 30, denies conspiracy to murder Mark Walsh in a shooting outside his home in Accrington.

King’s friend Donovan Wallace and Jack Wilding are serving prison sentences after being convicted of carrying out the alleged plot in which Mr Walsh was peppered with more than 100 pellets from a sawn-off shotgun.

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But King insists the shooting was not motivated by an ongoing child custody row with his ex partner Chloe Goodbier – who was in a new relationship with Mr Walsh.

Speaking from the witness box at Preston Crown Court, King, of Lodge Lane, Lytham, said: “I don’t want anyone dead.”

He said Wallace shot Mr Walsh in revenge after he tried to go through his door the night before.

He described Wallace as “a quiet one who couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag.”

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He told the jury: “Me, I would have gone round and had a fight with a person but the quiet ones, ’cause he’s not a fighting man, he’s gone round and shot him. They’re the ones you have to watch.”

King admitted he had made threats that he would drive at Walsh if he saw him on his parents’ farm after Chloe left him for Walsh in 2012.

He said: “He’s saying he’s going to chop my head off, burn my mum and dad’s farm down, send people to pinch stuff. I’m not having anyone coming down to my mum and dad’s farm.

“They are 60-odd years old, worked all the hours God sends – who is going to protect them?”

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But he insisted he had not been involved in a conspiracy to murder Mr Walsh on January 12 2015.

He said: “I’ve got too much to lose. I’m not going to lie to you. The guy’s a complete idiot. Donovan is solely responsible for shooting Mark Walsh on that Monday night.

“It all came to a head when Mark Walsh tried going through Donovan’s door.

“If I wanted someone dead – and I don’t want anyone dead – but if I did I wouldn’t get anyone else to do it. I’d do it myself. If it was carefully thought-out, they wouldn’t be using my car, I wouldn’t have Jack Wilding, a 20-year-old who can’t tie his shoelaces.

“If it had been carefully hatched out that day, that wouldn’t happen. This was a spur of the moment thing because of what happened on Sunday.”

(Proceeding)