Couple 'spent £1k on dead man's card'
A couple went on a £1,000 shopping spree with a wealthy businessman's bank cards just hours after murdering him in a robbery at his flat, a court heard.
Emma Bate and Paramjit Singh splashed out £980 on two Apple Touch iPods and one Apple iPhone after stealing the bank cards of victim Richard Sherratt's, the Stafford Crown Court jury was told.
At the same time, Mr Sherratt's former partner Julie Sykes discovered his body on the bed of his flat in Old School Mews, in Bridgnorth, prosecutor Mr Peter Grieves-Smith said.
Bate, aged 26, of Gladstone Street, Birmingham denies murdering the 57-year-old, but has admitted robbery. Her boyfriend Singh, 32, of Willmore Road, Birmingham, has admitted murder and robbery.
Michael Smith, aged 51, of Horton Street, Tipton, was paid £100 to drive the pair to and from Bridgnorth. He denies a charge of robbery.
At yesterday's hearing, Mr Grieves-Smith showed a jury CCTV footage of Bate, Singh and Smith arriving in a red Renault at Old School Mews just after midnight on June 13 last year.
Footage was then shown of Bate allegedly using three of Mr Sherratt's bank cards on five occasions in Bridgnorth. The jury was then shown footage of Bate using a cash point outside Handsworth Post Office at 1.35am before waving her arms in a "celebratory manner", Mr Grieves-Smith claimed.
Mr Grieves-Smith read out card transactions from Mr Sherratt's account for the two iPods at Argos at the One Stop Shopping Centre in Perry Barr at midday and then for the mobile phone.
Mr Sherratt, who moved to Bridgnorth from Stourbridge last May, died following at least five blows to the head and a stab wound to his forearm.
Mr Grieves-Smith said: "Emma Bate has claimed that Paramjit Singh was solely responsible for the violence, we suggest that is a lie." The trial continues.
