Murder-accused was 'compulsive liar', court hears

A man has denied knowing he was travelling in the car belonging to an army veteran after his death.

The skeletal remains of Paul Taylor, from Annan in Scotland, were found in Finglandrigg Woods, Cumbria, in May.

Jack Crawley, 20, is one of two men on trial at the city's crown court and has denied murder, but admitted manslaughter and unlawful killing.

Marcus Goodfellow, who is accused of helping Crawley dispose of Mr Taylor's car, described Crawley as a "fantasist" and agreed with the suggestion he was a "compulsive liar".

The jury was previously taken through a timeline of events including phone contact, maps, CCTV stills and footage from the weeks and months before Mr Taylor's death.

Crawley had been in touch with Mr Taylor, a Cumberland Infirmary catering manager, for 10 months before his disappearance, the court heard.

On 17 July 2023, Crawley - using the name Jamie - contacted Mr Taylor on the dating app Grindr.

The court has heard Mr Taylor’s family were unaware of his sexual interest in men.

Mr Taylor, 56, was last seen by his wife, Maria, on 17 October.

Carlisle Crown Court heard how Mr Goodfellow, 20, finished a 12-hour night shift at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary — where Crawley also worked — on the morning of 19 October 2023.

They took a bus from the hospital to Crawley's Sheehan’s Crescent home and then to Green Lane, where Mr Taylor’s car was parked.

Crawley and Mr Goodfellow then travelled in the car, bound for Appleby, before the Vauxhall Corsa was crashed and abandoned in the Eden Valley village of Langwathby.

Mr Goodfellow said it had been a "trip out" and a chance to smoke cannabis.

Under later cross-examination, Mr Goodfellow agreed he suspected the vehicle was stolen and poised to be burnt out, after Crawley had earlier bought fuel in a jerry can.

He denied knowing "a great deal more about why the vehicle was being driven to Appleby".

In a defence statement prepared for trial, Mr Goodfellow said Crawley mentioned "someone had died", the person being "worse than [serial killer] Jeffrey Dahmer", a "drug dealer" and being "glad he was gone".

He described Crawley as being "giddy and excited".

Mr Goodfellow said he later saw police appeals about Mr Taylor’s disappearance which included images of his Corsa, which made him "quite stressed".

Mr Goodfellow denied being involved in criminal activity with Crawley, as had been alleged by the latter in his evidence.

He said he heard nothing of organised crime gangs operating in areas including Carlisle, as stated by Crawley.

Barrister Peter Byrne asked: "It was suggested to Mr Crawley he is a compulsive liar and was making his evidence up as he was going along. Do you agree with that?"

Goodfellow, who has no criminal convictions, responded: "Yes I do."

Crawley, of Sheehan Crescent, Carlisle, also denies the attempted murder of a second man several months later in Yorkshire who was attacked with a hammer, the court heard.

The trial continues.

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