Jordan Monaghan trial: Murder accused admits lying to police over drugs

A man accused of murdering his partner with an overdose has admitted to a jury that he lied to police over buying prescription drugs on the black market.

Jordan Monaghan, 30, is accused of killing Evie Adams, 23, with tramadol and diazepam in October 2019 and accused of murdering his two young children by smothering them in 2013.

Mr Monaghan admitted to Preston Crown Court he had joined a WhatsApp group and sent a message to buy drugs.

He denies three counts of murder.

Mr Monaghan, of Blackburn, is accused of murdering his 24-year-old daughter Ruby on New Year's Day in 2013 and his 21-month-old son Logan eight months later.

The court heard call records gathered by detectives showed a series of WhatsApp, Snapchat or phone text messages from the phone used by Mr Monaghan on the day, and in the days leading up to, the death of Ms Adams.

Mr Monaghan told police that contact with two other men, Tom Bank and Ben Grundy, was to do with work or planning a Halloween party.

During police interviews, he claimed someone else may have been using his online profile or phone to make calls and texts to buy drugs.

But on Monday he admitted to the jury that he lied to police, although he denied it was anything to do with Ms Adams and said the drugs were for himself.

Ben Myers QC, defending, asked Mr Monaghan why he did not tell the truth until now.

The defendant replied: "Because the police were out to get me in my view, so I did not want to admit buying drugs, so I lied.

"Because it was hard to get out of the lie. But eventually I knew I had to tell the truth."

Mr Monaghan said he joined a WhatsApp group titled UK Tablets, and sent a message to buy drugs, saying "who's got Tramadol?" and asking others for "Pregabs and blues", meaning diazepam and pregabalin, an anti-anxiety medication.

Mr Myers asked the defendant: "When you got drugs, did that have anything to do with Evie Adams?"

"No. Never," he replied.

On the night Ms Adams was killed, Mr Monaghan told officers he had travelled to the Wigan area to look at a drainage job at a gym.

The prosecution said he deliberately distanced himself from his partner as she lay dying.

Shortly after he returned, an ambulance was called to the house they shared after Ms Adams was found collapsed on the bedroom floor.

She was declared dead after paramedics were unable to resuscitate her.

Mr Monaghan, of Belgrave Close, also denies two counts of attempted murder and two counts of cruelty to a third child, who cannot be identified.

The trial continues.

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