Witnesses have been telling the trial of two brothers accused of murdering a drug dealer how they saw a man being dragged into the middle of road by another man who then ran off.
Stephen Bennett, 53, and Edward Bennett, 47, are accused of murdering Mark Jones, who worked for the HMRC, at a layby on the A4059 in Mountain Ash on July 26 last year.
Mark Jones, 43, died in hospital two months after the shooting despite having had 15 operations on his gunshot wounds.
At Cardiff Crown Court today, several witnesses who were passing the layby said one man was dragged into the middle of the road.
The man who had dragged him there was then seen running off towards the Cynon Trail.
Jeffrey Morgan was driving on the A5059 on July 26 from Mountain Ash to Abercynon, with his son and his son’s friend in the car at around 7.35pm.
He told the court: “I was driving down and got as far as the layby and there was a van travelling in the same direction. It stopped so I had to stop.
“I saw somebody pulling a body from the main carriageway on to the pavement.
“He was being dragged in between his legs and back. His arms were up in the air.”
The trial continues.
Recap from the trial:
Trial continues on Friday
Mr Griffiths, representing Edward Bennett, has taken witness Mr Brown through his hand written statement to police.
Mr Brown has finished giving his evidence.
He is told by Mr Justice Wyn Williams he may be called back at some point during the trial.
There is no more evidence today and the jury have been sent home.
The trial will resume at 10am on Friday.
'Body ended up on the curb side'
Mr Brown pulled into the layby.
He said that the body ended up on the curb side on a path opposite the layby.
He said he couldn’t see what happened to the two men.
Mr Griffiths has now started his cross-examination of Mr Brown.
Witness thought people were 'playing chicken' in the road
Peter Brown, from Gloucester, was visiting his daughter and was driving back home at 7.30pm.
He said he went past Mountain Ash Hospital on his way to the M4.
He added: “I was going along the carriageway and I saw people running into the road.
“Two people dressed in black run across the road. I thought they were playing chicken.
“As I got nearer, they were in front of a body in the middle of the broad. I presumed it had been run over.”
Court back in session
The jury have been brought back into the courtroom and court is back in session.
The next witness is Peter Brown.
Legal discussions continue
Judge Williams and counsul are back in court.
The jury have not been brought back in as legal discussions continue.
Short adjournment
Court has adjourned for 10-15 minutes.
The jury will be brought back in after the short break.
Case about to resume
Mr Justice Wyn Williams, counsul and the defendants are back in court for the afternoon session.
The jury have not yet been brought back in.
Proceedings break for lunch
Court has been adjourned early for lunch and will resume at 1.40pm.
Witness is cross examined
Mr Griffiths asked Mr Woolidge about his recollection of the incident.
The barrister said: “You haven’t got a good recollection of this at all have you.”
Mr Woolidge replied: “Not really, it was a long time ago and I was on my phone.
“I thought they were smacked up junkies, you always see them in that area.”
'Three men acting suspiciously'
Mr Woolidge said he and Mr Barnes saw three men acting suspiciously by the layby and we just carried on going.
“A car stopped by the entrance, I saw a man stumbling to the floor and there were two men but I didn’t pay much attention.
“They standing on the road next to the person.”
Car passenger called to give evidence
Mr Quinlan has now finished his cross-examination of Mr Barnes and he has been released from the witness box.
The next witness is Shane Woolidge, a passenger in Mr Barnes’ vehicle on July 26.
Witness drove 'slowly past the scene'
Mr Griffiths asked Mr Barnes he was driving fast past the incident.
Mr Barnes said he slowed down because there were people in the road but he did not stop because he didn’t know what was going on.
Mr Quinlan is now cross-examining Mr Barnes.
Witness 'thought they were druggies'
Mr Barnes added: “There was a guy lying by the white lines and his friend was trying to drag him to the other side of the road.
“I thought they were druggies and had taken too much.
“I thought his friend was trying to get him out of the road. He was bent over pulling his one arm.”
Mr Barnes drove on and did not stop at the time of the incident.
He visited the police in Ystrad Mynach the next day to tell them about what he saw.
Mr Griffiths is now cross-examining Mr Barnes.
Man lying in the middle of the road
Andrew Barnes was travelling from Aberdare to Ystrad Mynach to see some friends from college, and was on the A4059
He said: “I was driving down the road and we saw a guy lying in the middle of the road by the white lines.”
Next witness due to be called
Mr Quinlan has finished his cross-examination of Mr Morgan.
Mr Griffiths briefly asked Mr Morgan about the van in the front of him. The witness said it was a transit-like van.
Mr Morgan has finished his evidence and has been released from the witness box.
The next witness is Andrew Barnes.
Questions about the local area
Mr Griffiths is now asking Mr Morgan about his knowledge of the Cynon Trail.
Mr Morgan says he knows it well.
Christopher Quinlan QC, representing Stephen Bennett, is now asking Mr Morgan about the area of the layby.
The jury are shown a map of the area.
Man disappeared towards the Cynon Trail
Mr Morgan said the man who was doing the dragging ran towards the Cynon Trail and disappeared.
He added: “I went over and helped the gentleman lying in the road. He was injured and had a wound on his left hand side.”
Mr Clee asked Mr Morgan if he could describe the man doing the dragging.
He said: “He had a dark hoodie on and it was dark blue or blackish in colour.”
He wasn’t able to say what height he was or what he was wearing on his legs.
Mr Griffiths, representing Edward Bennett, is now asking Mr Morgan about his police statement.
Body pulled from main carriageway
Jeffrey Morgan was driving on the A5059 on July 26 from Mountain Ash to Abercynon, with his son and his son’s friend in the car at around 7.35pm. He said he knew the road well.
He said: “I was driving down and got as far as the layby and there was a van travelling in the same direction. It stopped so I had to stop.
“I saw somebody pulling a body from the main carriageway on to the pavement.
“He was being dragged in between his legs and back. His arms were up in the air.”
Back from the break
Court is back in session.
The next witness to be called will be Jeffrey Morgan.
Short break in proceedings
Mr Griffiths cross-examined Mr Morgan about his description of the man and of his account of the incident.
Mr Morgan has now finished his evidence and has been released from the witness box.
Court has adjourned for a 15 minute break.
'Hood was up and tied tight to his face'
Prosecutor Christoper Clee asked Mr Morgan if he could describe the man who doing the dragging.
Mr Morgan said: “He was roughly 5ft 9ins to 5ft 10ins. He was a bit shorter then the other man.
“He was wearing a dark blue hoodie and the hood was up and tied tight to his face.
“He was wearing dark blue jeans and white trainers of some sort. I could see a bit of red so I assumed it was a red top under his hoodie.”
Wound was on victim's left side
Mr Morgan went to the break where the hedge was to look for the man but only went a matter of feet.
He said: “I couldn’t see where he was going.
“I went back to my brother and I could see the wound on the man’s left side.”
Mr Morgan also went to check on the white Audi and saw there was damage to the front seat.
Witness thought victim had been run over
David Morgan was on the way back from Mountain Ash Hospital with his brother Alan Morgan and sister in law Julie Morgan on July 26.
He said: “There was an incident. We slowed down by the layby because I could see a man being dragged across the road.
“He was being dragged by his arms and shoulder. I thought he had been run over.
“The man dragged him on to the pavement and just let him go and ran off towards the Taff Trail.”
Third witness to take the stand
Alan Morgan has now finished giving evidence.
The next witness will be David Morgan, brother of the previous witness.
Questions over description
The defence barrister representing Stephen Bennett is now asking Mr Morgan about the description of the man’s height and build, in reference to his police statement.
Witness is cross-examined
Mr Morgan described the man he saw dragging another man as around 5ft 8ins and as wearing a dark jacket with the hood up, a dark coloured jacket done up to the neck. He could not see his face.
The witness is now being cross-examined by Mr Griffiths about the description of the incident in his police statement.
Witness tells how victim was 'groaning'
Mr Morgan said he pulled into the layby and got out of the car and went to see if the man needed any assistance.
He said: “He was lying face up with his eyes open and he was groaning.
“I bent down to see if I could talk to the man and seconds later a couple of people joined me.”
Mr Morgan then went over to a white Audi. He saw the driver’s door was open and there was damage to the front seat.
Map of the area discussed
Mr Morgan pointed to map given to the jury to show them where the events took place.
He said: “The first man was on the floor completely motionless.
“The first man had his arms above his head and was being dragged backwards.
“Once he got on to the pavement he let him go and ran off.”
Witness saw man running from the scene
Prosecutor Christopher Clee QC asked Mr Morgan what he saw on the evening of July 26.
Mr Morgan said: “We were travelling from Mountain Ash towards the A470 and there was a layby on the left hand side.
“There were a number of cars stopped in front of us so we pulled up and I saw someone being dragged left to right from the layby area to the other side of the road.
“A man was being dragged by another man and he left the man on the side of the road and ran down the lane.”
Second witness to take the stand
Peter Griffiths QC, representing Edward Bennett, questioned Mrs Morgan on her description of the man she saw pulling the male across the road.
The defence have now finished their cross-examination and Julie Morgan has left the witness box.
The next witness is her husband Alan Morgan.
Witness is cross-examined
The defence are now cross-examining Mrs Morgan.
She is being asked about the timings of the night and about her statement to the police.
Difficult to give description
Initially, Mrs Morgan said she couldn’t give a description of the man who went away.
She then said: “He was medium build but he was covered up.
“He had a jacket on with a hood which was covering his face and was tied quite tight.
“It was a dark jacket. He was about 5ft 8ins or 5ft 10ins and I think he was wearing jeans.”
Witness called police after pulling into layby
Mrs Morgan added: “The first thing I saw was somebody being pulled across the road directly opposite the layby.
“A male was pulling another man on to the pavement by both his arms.
“He pulled him across the road on to the pavement and the grass bank. He just let his arms drop and went down to a pathway.”
Mrs Morgan said her husband pulled over into the layby, and she got out of the car, crossed to the other side of the road and rang the police.
Witness saw one man pulling another across the road
Mrs Morgan was visiting her mother-in-law at Mountain Ash Hospital on the evening of July 26.
As she was driving back from the hospital on the A4059 to Abercynon with her husband Alan, Mrs Morgan saw in the distance another male pulling another male across the road.
She added: “We slowed down our car and the one male took the other male on to the pavement, dropped him down and ran off.”
First witness to be called
Judge Williams and the defendants are back in court.
The jury have also been brought in.
The first witness to be called today is Julie Morgan.
Delay to proceedings
There has been a slight delay to proceedings and Judge Williams has risen.
Stephen Bennett, wearing a blue suit and white shirt, and Edward Bennett, wearing a grey suit and white shirt, have also momentarily left the court.
Third day about to get underway
The defendants are both in court as are the prosecution and defence.
Mr Justice Wyn Williams has entered the courtroom.
There are three people in the public gallery.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/witnesses-tell-murder-trial-how-12017632
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