ONE of the defendants accused of the murder of a Chester man had threatened to kill before, a court heard.
Gary Anthony George, 41, had told a support worker at a city centre homeless shelter he was going to kill another man who he believed had spiked his friend’s drugs, saying that “killing him would be worth it”.
Appearing at Chester Crown court yesterday George, who is accused, along with Christine Margaret Holleran, 50, of murdering Andrew Mackenzie Nall, 53, in August of last year, had his previous convictions read out to jurors.
Ian Unsworth QC, prosecuting, told the jury that in July, 2008, George had told Harold Tomlins Centre support worker Jacqueline Higgins he was going to kill another man, Steven McCarthy.
Mr Unsworth said: “He (George) had said he was going to kill Steven McCarthy, accusing him of spiking a friend’s drugs.
“He said he knew what would happen to him but killing him would be worth it. The level of threat perturbed Jacqueline Higgins to the extent she contacted the police.”
Mr Unsworth also told jurors George, who had a string of offences for violent and drunken behaviour, had, in 1999, held a knife to a teenage female shop assistant and demanded money from the till.
“He (George) entered a general store in Chester and approach the till. A teenage girl was working behind the till looking after the store.
“He grabbed her hair, pushed her head and put a serrated knife against her neck. She struggled to get away from him and cut her finger on the blade. He then pushed the point of the blade against her neck.
“He took £56.52 from the till before leaving.”
The court also heard that co-defendant Holleran, formerly of Edge Lane, Liverpool, had a string of offences relating to excessive drinking, including spitting at a supermarket worker and punching a member of staff at another store in the chest.
The evidence was presented to jurors to show a propensity for violence of the two accused while drunk.
Mr Unsworth also told jurors how Mr Nall had made 30 calls to police from May, 2006 to June, 2012, something which his former partner, Maria Griffin, told police was to ‘seek attention’.
On one , Mr Nall called police to say that his partner was dead, only for officers to arrive at the flat where they found Mr Nall heavily intoxicated and Miss Griffin asleep in bed.
George and Holleran deny murdering Mr Nall at his flat in Eversley Park, off Liverpool Road, but George admits killing him, citing diminished responsibility.
(Proceeding)