I saw killer, says partner of murdered Walsall businessman
The widow of a Staffordshire father shot dead in bed wept as she told a jury she saw one of his alleged killers just minutes before the fatal shots were fired.
Megan Deakin said she spotted Darryl Dickens at the wheel of a black Corsa which briefly pulled up outside the Burntwood home she shared with Walsall businessman Richard Deakin.
She told jurors at Birmingham Crown Court she saw the car as she was taking their daughters to school, saying: "He looked directly at me at one point. I've never forgot that face."
When she returned 25 minutes later, the house in Meadway Street was taped off and surrounded by police. She learned from an officer that her 27-year-old skip hire boss partner had been shot in the chest and legs as he lay in bed.
The prosecution allege that David Harrison, of Bilston, was a passenger in the Corsa, which returned to the street after Miss Deakin left.
He is said to have entered the house through the back door - which was unlocked because Mr Deakin had lost his key - before carrying out the murder in July 2010.
Miss Deakin, via video link, was asked in cross examination whether she remembered leaving the door unlocked. She replied: "How could I forget that? I left the back door open and that's how they got in."
Jurors heard the couple had returned the night before from a spa weekend at Staffordshire's Hoar Cross Hall. They planned to marry and she had changed her name to Deakin.
Harrison, aged 63, of Rainbow Street, and Dickens, 34, of Powell Place, also Bilston, deny murder. The trial continues.
By Marion Brennan
