Brierley Hill murder case: Partner of alleged accomplice 'bought incinerator day after killings'
The partner of the alleged accomplice in the shootings of two best friends in a Range Rover bought an incinerator the day after the killings, a jury has heard.
Francesca Scott is accused of perverting the course of justice by disposing of clothing following the murders of Will Henry, 31, and Brian McIntosh, 29, at the Albion Works industrial estate in Brierley Hill last September.
Scott, who was the "on-off" partner of Richard Avery, on trial for allegedly helping to plan the murders, told detectives she bought the incinerator from B&M at the Merry Hill shopping centre as she was doing up her garden, and denied burning any clothes in it.
Birmingham Crown Court also heard how Scott, 33, of Lower Valley Road, Brierley Hill, was dispatched by Avery to buy a Nokia phone and a Sim card from Merry Hill just hours after the killings.
Scott said Avery gave her cash to buy the phone but that she didn't know what it was for. She also told detectives when interviewed following her arrest she did not know what was inside a bag given to her by Avery, 33, which she then put in the boot of her car.
She insisted it was not unusual for him to hand her clothes, rags and cloths used for his work as a car valet to be cleaned, so she didn't think anything of it.
Jonathan Houseman, 32, is accused of shooting dead the business partners, both fathers from Bartley Green, Birmingham, over a £200,000 debt he owed them. The jury previously heard how Avery's DNA was found on spent bullet casings inside the Range Rover.
Scott told detectives she didn't know either of the victims and had never met them. Quizzed about why she sent newspaper articles about Houseman's alleged role in the killings to Avery over WhatsApp, she said she was "just stunned" as "it's not every day there is a murder on your doorstep".
Pressed by detectives on the decision to buy the incinerator, she told them: "We had slabs at the top of the garden and loads of wood. The garden was just awful. Rich said we'll burn all that rubbish and get rid of it."
She claimed she only "put a bit of wood" in the incinerator, and asked if she had burned clothes, she replied: "Not at all. It was to do the garden up."
Scott denies perverting the course of justice. Avery, of no fixed address, denies murder and perverting the course of justice. Houseman, of no fixed address but formerly of Quarry Park Road, Stourbridge, denies murder.
The trial continues.
