An AA patrol man told a trial how he heard "two loud bangs" and then saw a driver on the floor when he stopped for a cigarette break at a Welsh layby.
Christopher Gale told a murder trial at Cardiff Crown Court that he initially thought someone had been knocked over when he heard the loud noises.
Brothers Stephen Bennett, 53, and Edward Bennett, 47, are accused of murdering Mark Jones, who worked for the HMRC and was described in court as a 'drug dealer' at the layby in July last year.
The 43-year-old was found with gunshot wounds in a layby on the A4059 in Mountain Ash on July 26 last year.
He died in hospital two months later after having 15 operations on his gunshot wounds.
Mr Gale told the jury: "I got into my vehicle. That’s when I heard the two loud bangs. It was a very very deep bang. It sounded similar to an airbag going off.
"I started my van. I was going to head out of the layby but the doors on the Audi opened up and I saw blue smoke coming out of the drivers side of the car."
He added: "I was a bit worried, I thought something was going to happen. So I reversed away from where it happened.
"The driver was lying in the road and passenger was trying to get him out of the road. I phoned the police."
Stephen Bennett, of Masefield Way, Pontypridd , and Edward Bennett, of Station Terrace, Penrhiwceiber, have both pleaded not guilty to murder.
The trial continues.
Trial adjourned for the day
The trial has now adjourned for the day and will continue on Thursday at 10am.
Swapped seats
Louise Evans is next up to give evidence.
She said a white Audi pulled in after she had swapped seats with her husband.
She was texting her son at the time and said it was 7.30pm when the white Audi pulled in, but she said she didn’t see how many people were in the car.
White Audi pulled into the layby
Paul Evans is the next witness to give evidence.
He was picking up his daughter with his wife Louise. They stopped at the Lletty Turner layby briefly to swap seats at around 7.30pm on the day of the incident and saw the white Audi pull in, but said he “didn’t take that much notice of it”.
Mr Evans and his wife then drove away to pick up their daughter.
Mr Evans and his wife then drove away to pick up their daughter.
Witness questioned by defence
Mr Mccallister is now being questioned by the defence.
He told the jury the man with the gun was one of those who was dragging the person across the road.
A statement given to police by Mr Mccallister about the man was read out in court.
It said: “This man was a white man in his 40s with dark brown scruffy bushy hair that was down to the middle of his neck.
“He looked rough and scraggy. He was about 5ft 5ins to 6ft tall with stocky build. His jacket did not have a hood and was done up.
“The other man who disappeared into the bushes was younger. He had short mousy-coloured hair to shoulder length. He was white, 5ft 8ins tall, slim build. He was wearing white jogging bottoms.”
Witness saw man 'holding a hand gun'
When asked whether the men were holding anything, Mr Mccallister said that one of them was.
He added: “It looked to me as if he had a gun in his right hand. A hand gun.
“His hand was towards the ground holding the gun.”
Describing the man holding the alleged gun, he said: “He had dark hair. Quite stocky. A black jacket on, he looked around 40-45 years of age. He was about 5ft 6ins 5ft 7ins.”
He said the man not holding the gun looked younger than the other man, with a slim build, and around 5ft 8ins with white jogging bottoms.
After the men ran into the bushes, Mr Mccallister said the police came and he then got back in the car and drove off.
Trying to drag man off the road
Mr Mccallister said: “One of the fellas who was running across the road fell flat on his face. I didn’t see why he fell over.
“They were both trying to drag him off the road from his collar or his shoulder. He was on his back when they were dragging him.”
He said they dragged him onto the pavement and then ran off.
Men 'running in circles' in the road
He was driving a Vauxhall Astra with partner Alyson Kanderela at the time of the incident.
He said: “Straight in front of me three men ran out into the middle of the road near enough in front of my car at the entrance to the layby.
“They came from the layby and I slowed down.”
He said they were “running in circles” in the middle of the road.
He added: “One who was at the back was waving his hands. It happened so quickly.”
First witness of afternoon session
The jury, judge and defendants are back in court now and we are ready for the afternoon session.
The first witness of the session, James Mccallister is giving his evidence from behind a blue screen.
The first witness of the session, James Mccallister is giving his evidence from behind a blue screen.
He said had been out for lunch with his partner on the day of the incident, July 26. He was going around vehicle dealers in Tredegar before heading to Aberdare and then heading home to Abercynon.
Break for lunch
The case has now stopped for lunch.
Police statement read out to court
In a statement made by Ms Moore to police and read out to court about the man who was dragging the other man across the road, it read: “He appeared quite tall, around 5ft 10ins or 11ins and medium build.
“He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt with the hood up covering his face. This was possibly black or navy in colour.
“I think he must have been quite strong because the male he had been dragging was stocky and heavy build.”
Nurse noticed a bullet around his stomach
Mrs Moore told the court: “As we were driving down the road from the hospital towards the layby, I saw somebody dragging another person across the road.
“I asked my husband to pull in.
“The man who was doing the dragging went through the bushes. He was wearing a dark or black hoodie pulled down over his head.”
She went to the assistance of the man on the floor and noticed bullet around his abdomen. She did what she could to assist until the ambulance arrived.
She added: “I thought the man was going to have a heart attack.”
Man was wearing a dark hoodie covering his face
He told the jury the man who was dragging the other was wearing a dark hoodie or jacket with the hood up, which was covering his face.
Sonia Moore, his wife, a nurse, has now been called to the witness box.
Witness 'only saw two people involved'
The defence is now questioning Mr Moore.
Mr Moore has told them as he got closer to the layby, he realised it was one person dragging another person, and he saw the man drop the other.
By the time Mr Moore had pulled up, the man had dragged the other across the road.
He said as far as he knew, there were only two people involved.
Husband stopped car at layby
Mr Moore is speaking about the incident, and said he stopped the car at the entrance to the layby at just after 7.30pm.
He added: “The man dragged him across the road, dropped him down and then ran off. It couldn’t have taken more than a minute. He just looked back and went then.”
Mr Moore didn’t see the man’s face as the incident happened too far away from him.
Witness saw a 'bundle' being dropped in the road
Witness Allen Moore is the next witness and he has told how he went to pick up his wife from her work as a nurse on the evening of July 26, 2015, the day of the incident.
He told the jury that at just past 7.30pm: “I saw somebody coming into the road dragging a bundle of some kind. They dropped them in the road, picked them up, and then dropped them on the pavement on the opposite side.”
Case ready to resume
The break took a little longer than they thought but the jury is now back in place and ready to go.
Short break in proceedings
Mr Gale has now left the witness box and the jury has been let out for a 10 minute break.
Numerous cars in the area at the time
Mr Gale told the court there were “numerous cars around with their hazard lights on” when he saw the man who got out of the Audi driver’s seat (Mark Jones) being dragged across the road by the man in the hooded top.
Witness didn't see weapons 'at any time'
Mr Gale said after the two loud bangs, the passenger got out of the car and appeared to follow the driver.
Mr Gale then reversed his van away from the incident and saw the driver of the Audi in the road, on the floor. He said he then saw a car with its hazard lights on, just after the layby.
Speaking about the passenger who came out of the Audi and ran after the victim, Mark Jones, Mr Gale told police in a statement read out in court: “I think this person is a male but I can I have no idea on his skin colour age or height and can only really tell you he had a dark coloured hooded top and dark coloured bottoms. The hood was up and was almost covering his face.”
The statement also said he did not see any weapons at all, “at any time”.
Van parked in layby for 'a short time'
Mr Gale said he was having a cigarette for less than five minutes. He didn’t see anyone approach or enter the white Audi.
He said the van arrived while he was having the cigarette from the Aberdare direction, drove past the Audi, past his van and parked behind his van.
The van was then there for a short time, he didn’t see any one get out of it, then it drove off again.
He heard the bangs when he was about to start the ignition, and at that stage, both doors of the Audi were closed. Then, “almost simultaneously”, both doors opened and the men got out.
AA man questioned by defence
Under cross examination Mr Gale said that he assumed the owner of the Audi had left the car in the layby while walking in the area. He said he did not know how many people were in the car before the alleged incident.
Witnesses thought it was a stabbing at first
Mr Gale added: “I thought someone had been knocked over. The driver was on the floor and the passenger was trying to pull him across the road up onto the path. He then ran into the bushes.”
He added: “ I then made my way up to where the driver was lying and I went to see what had happened. There were quite a few people scattered around. A lady trying to look after him. I asked what had happened they said he’d been stabbed. I said I don’t think he’s been stabbed, he’s been shot.”
He then went to get some latex gloves and help the man “as best I could” before police and ambulance arrived.
Witness heard 'two loud bangs'
Mr Gale said another man pulled into the layby behind him in a van. He said it stayed for “a couple of minutes or so”.
Mr Gale said: “I got into my vehicle. That’s when I heard the two loud bangs. It was a very very deep bang. It sounded similar to an airbag going off.
“I started my van. I was going to head out of the layby but the doors on the Audi opened up and I saw blue smoke coming out of the drivers side of the car.”
He added: “I was a bit worried, I thought something was going to happen. So I reversed away from where it happened.
“The driver was lying in the road and passenger was trying to get him out of the road. I phoned the police.”
AA patrol man giving evidence
AA patrol man Christopher Gale is the first person to give evidence this morning.
He was in his patrol vehicle making his way to Aberdare on July 26, 2015. He decided to stop for a cigarette and pulled into the layby.
He said he knew the layby “reasonably well”, and signalled to the jury the direction he was travelling before pulling in.
He said when he pulled in, there was a white Audi A3 in the layby. He said the car was “very clean and well looked after”.
Second day of trial about to start
Our reporter in court Tom Houghton is reporting that Mr Justice Wyn Williams is now in place, as are brothers Stephen and Edward Bennett.
There are around six people in the public gallery.
There are around six people in the public gallery.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/aa-patrol-man-tells-murder-12011821
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