Luke Harwood trial: Billy Duggan ‘feared he would die’ if he didn’t clean bloodstains
Luke Harwood's body was found in a field in Woodford Green
Court reporter
Thursday, March 21, 2013
11:05 AM
An alleged killer of teenager Luke Harwood threatened to murder another man in order to force him to cover up the crime, a court heard.
Billy Duggan, 21, said he believed he was next after James Danby, 27, allegedly kicked and stamped 18-year-old Luke, originally from Harold Hill, to death.
He played no part in the attack on Luke at a council house in Crow Lane, Romford.
But Duggan was taken to the scene and was so horrified by what he saw he threw up.
He told an Old Bailey jury: “I thought I was going to be killed. I kept asking: ‘Is [Danby] going to kill me’.”
Danby attacked Luke after a woman said he had raped her, a claim later dropped.
After beating him at the house he was taken to a field and his head stamped on so severely it flattened.
Duggan said he was ordered to clean bloodstains in Luke’s room and complied because he was so terrified of Danby.
Asked why he did not run away he said: “I was never out of that man’s sight. I would not have made it to the front door. I know that for a fact.”
Duggan said he was driven to the field, in Woodford Green, by Emma Hall, 21, with Danby and Tony O’Toole, 29.
“I honestly thought Danby would kill me the same way he killed Luke. That’s what he had said to me,” Duggan said
At the scene he said he saw Luke’s body under a mattress.
“All I could see was an arm hanging out one side of the mattress and his feet hanging out the bottom.
“Jay [Danby] pointed out a massive patch of blood on the floor. You could see brain.
“He started to laugh and joke about it. I looked away and started to vomit.”
Duggan said previously he was not sure whether Luke was really dead but “that’s when it hit me.”
“[Danby] was laughing and joking about cutting Luke’s head off,” said Duggan.
“It was horrific. It was something I didn’t want to do.”
Danby took kitchen knives and pliers to the field, the court heard.
Duggan said Danby put a knife to his face and warned: “I’m going to kill you.”
On the a second journey back to the field they were stopped by the police and arrested.
Danby, Hall, O’Toole and Jovan Roberts, 28, deny murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Hall, Danby O’Toole, Duggan and 20-year-old Khalid Hassan deny perverting the course of justice.
All the defendants lived at the bungalow in Crow Lane.
The trial continues.
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