Man tells jury he did not mean to kill pensioner

Wayne Moffitt said he was drunk and when he saw Geoffrey Bradburn in Pontefract he became angry “because he had previously assaulted my sister”.

“I was under the influence of drink. I got angry and it got the better of me, I ended up assaulting him, I ended up punching him,” he told Leeds Crown Court.

He agreed Mr Bradburn, 71 was knocked to the ground and he then began kicking him but denied aiming the kicks at his head.

“It wasn’t lit up the area very well. I could see him on the floor but couldn’t see his head at all, I didn’t directly aim for his head.”

His counsel Tahir Khan QC asked: “Did you want to cause him really serious harm?”

Moffitt replied: “No, no, no. I didn’t want to kill him or anything like that.”

Moffit, 39, of Minden Way, Pontefract denies murdering Mr Bradburn of Horsefair, Pontefract on April 6.

The jury has heard his victim had a broken nose and cheekbone and died after choking on his own blood.

Moffitt said he told Mr Bradburn as he lay on the ground to stay away from his sister Sharon Darnborough. Moffit then left but thought he might be seriously hurt because he was still lying there as he walked away down an alley off Shoe Market.

A short time later he decided to return to where the incident had happened. “I went back to see if he had got up off the ground, if he was all right.”

But as he walked along the alley he was “startled” to find Mr Bradburn up on his feet. He heard a car which he thought might be police and grabbed Mr Bradburn so they would not be found, dragging him into the alley.

He said Mr Bradburn struggled with him, their arms flailing about before the pensioner spun round lost balance and landed heavily on the ground.

Moffitt denied he struck any further blows or kicked Mr Bradburn while they were in the alley. He knew he was unconscious because he knelt beside him in the dark and moved his head. “He wasn’t breathing, well he wasn’t making any sound.”

He told the jury: “I should have phoned the ambulance or got some help.”

He said he accepted he was guilty of manslaughter and now felt “hurt inside and very sorry for what I have done.”

Under cross-examination by Simon Waley he denied he grabbed him into the alley to continue his assault.

The trial continues tomorrow.