Alleged murderer's barrister says client was 'comparatively invisible' during attack

Anthony Bird. 50, died in hospital on August 12 last year, 17 days after he was attacked in Victoria Park, Tipton.

Defendants Steven Bennett, 38, and Suni Gill, 33, who both deny murdering Mr Bird, had been in the park with a female friend when they confronted him accusing him of being a paedophile, a claim which was unsubstantiated.

Mr Jo Sidhu, defending Bennett, told jurors at Wolverhampton Crown Court that an eyewitnesses they had heard from was "completely unable to give any detailed description" of Bennett despite her watching the incident unfold, only able to say it was "another man" aside from Gill.

Mr Sidhu argued this indicated Bennett was "comparatively invisible" to Gill – with there being detailed descriptions of Bennett's co-accused – during the attack and asked the jury to consider if this meant Bennett was involved in the serious violence, because if he had been "he would've been seen".

The defence barrister further cited evidence from witnesses in which it was said Bennett was positioned behind Mr Bird while Gill was in front during the incident, a judge heard.

Medical evidence had shown there had been no bruises, no fractures and no lacerations consistent with the victim being kicked in the back of the head, dismissing claims from the prosecution Bennett was "kicking the hell out of Mr Bird", Mr Sidhu said.

The barrister argued it meant the defendant was not kicking Mr Bird and therefore not participating in the lethal violence and said if there had been kicks – which is not the defence case – there was still no injuries to the back of the head, which means it was "not being done to make him engaged in the lethal violence".

Mr Sidhu said evidence had been presented over the victim's blood on Bennett's trainers, but he said there would've been blood on the toe – rather than on the under-side of the sole – if Bennett had kicked.

He also highlighted how the defendant had walked away because he was "not in it for a severe beating" and said his client had a "significant lower level of involvement in violence, if he did anything at all".

Mr Sidhu also cited medical evidence that Mr Bird's brain was "stable, if not improving" and his clinical decline happened after the victim suffered seizures which the proescution claimed was down to the July 26 attack.

But the defence barrister said there were two other possible explanations – older brain injuries from "years and years ago" and potentially a knock on the head from a fall, when he was found by staff in the hospital after a seizure.

Mr Giles Cockings QC, defending Gill, told Wolverhampton Crown Court it was an "appalling assault in a pub park" and his client had accepted the eyewitnesses' account and accepts "his part" in the assault.

But the barrister said the defendant had "no recollection" of what happened and his memory had been "patchy" over the day of the incident and the day before, due to him drinking and taking cannabis and potentially cocaine.

Mr Cockings said the main issue in Gill's case was one of "diminished responsibility" due to the defendant's history of mental issues and abnormalities – which had seen him placed in various intuitions due to voices in his head amid other symptoms, jurors heard.

Mr Cockings said Gill does not remember the "kicks, slaps or punches" and cited how this mental instability had been exacerbated by the use of alcohol and drugs during the incident.

Evidence from Dr Ramneesh Puri was cited to the court on Gill's string of mental health issues including schizophrenia, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) along with flashbacks.

Dr Puri, in comments read out by the defence barrister, found alcohol and drug use cannot explain his actions due to him not having a history of violence – meaning his mental state would have been a factor, a judge heard.

Bennett, of Bevan Road, and Gill, of Shore Road, Tipton both deny a charge of murder and causing grievous bodily harm. The trial continues.