A MURDER trial heard how the accused was looking down the barrel of a gun shortly before his alleged victim was shot dead.

James Sutcliffe, 29, told the Bradford jury that dad-of-three Tyron Charles was shot after he and another man, Adrian Williams, visited Sutcliffe’s smallholding in Denholme, demanding £800.

Sutcliffe, of Hill Crest Road, Denholme, denies a charge of murdering Mr Charles on September 6, 2017.

Opening his defence, Richard Wright QC asked Sutcliffe to describe what happened when Mr Williams and Mr Charles arrived at his smallholding off Foster Park View.

Sutcliffe said: “When asking about money, Adrian got really aggressive, saying, ‘Where’s the f***ing money’, and ‘You better have the money or you’re f***ing getting it’.

“I didn’t want to give it to them, they’d already took my car off me so I didn’t think I owed Adrian anything.

“He pulled me off the back of my pick-up truck and we ended up scrapping before I dived under some barbed wire to escape.

“Tyron said he was not going to touch me and to finish unloading my truck. I believed him, he sounded pretty honest.

“I took the side of my truck down and they went into the container but left the door open.

“I couldn’t see them inside and I had my back to the container as I unloaded my truck.

“Tyron came out and pulled me into the container and shoved me in. I turned round and Adrian was there and the end of a gun was facing me.

“It was a small gauge shotgun with one barrel, and Tyron was stood behind me.

“I knocked the gun and grabbed at it at the same time and there was a big bang and flash at the side of me.

“I fell to the floor and my ear was ringing really badly. I saw Tyron on the floor by the door, he had been in the way of the shot when it went off.

“Adrian kept on shouting, asking why I pulled the gun. He said he didn’t know it was loaded and it was just to scare me.

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“He folded the gun and said, ‘We are both gonna get f***ed here, we need to get rid of the body’.

“He told me to say he had gone off and for me to say I had dropped Tyron off and gone to my house and Tyron had walked off towards The Royal, and if anyone asked he would confirm it.”

Earlier in his defence, Sutcliffe stated it was Adrian Williams who had killed Mr Charles and said that Mr Williams was a drug dealer.

He admitted to having a £40 a day cocaine habit, and had got into debt previously to Mr Williams but had always paid it off.

He also admitted to having seen and fixed the shotgun for Mr Williams prior to the death of Mr Charles.

Sutcliffe said the £800 related to an Audi TT he had previously insured for Mr Williams, who he said had no licence and was banned from driving, which was seized while Mr Charles was driving it after Sutcliffe had cancelled the insurance.

Sutcliffe said he told Mr Williams he was cancelling the insurance before Mr Charles was stopped, and swapped his Fiat Bravo with a damaged Suzuki Vitara belonging to Mr Williams, which he said he believed had settled the debt.

The trial continues.