Paul Taylor murder accused branded 'compulsive liar' by man accused of helping dump victim's car

Paul Taylor's charred remains were found in a shallow grave in woodland in Carlisle on May 1.

A young security guard accused of murdering Scots dad Paul Taylor was branded a "compulsive liar” by a man on trial accused of helping to dump the victim's car.

Marcus Goodfellow, 20, told the court Jack Crawley was an “oddball” and fantasist” after he, too, was initially quizzed on suspicion of Mr Taylor’s murder.

Detectives found the Army veteran's remains in a shallow grave in woodland on May 1.

Hospital catering manager Mr Taylor, who lived in Annan, Dumfriesshire, had been bludgeoned 10 times to the skull, and had defensive-type injuries to his arm. His body was torched before being dragged into bushes in a secluded area in Carlisle.

He was reported missing by his wife on October 18.

Jack Crawley, 20, admits Mr Taylor’s manslaughter but denies murder, claiming the incident was a carjacking gone wrong.

Goodfellow, also 20, denies assisting Crawley by helping dispose of Mr Taylor’s Vauxhall Corsa.

Jurors heard how security guard Goodfellow finished a 12-hour night shift at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary — where Crawley, then aged 19, also worked — on the morning of October 19. The pair went to Crawley’s Sheehan Crescent home where Goodfellow saw a pig mask in his bedroom.

They then travelled in Mr Taylor’s car with Goodfellow describing Crawley’s driving as “terrible” before the vehicle was crashed and abandoned in the Eden Valley village of Langwathby. Giving evidence in chief, Goodfellow said it had been a “trip out” and a chance to smoke cannabis. “I thought it was going to be scrapped,” he told his barrister, Peter Byrne of the car.

Under later cross-examination Goodfellow agreed he suspected the vehicle was stolen and poised to be burnt out after Crawley earlier bought fuel in a jerry can. He denied knowing “a great deal more about why the vehicle was being driven to Appleby”.

Crawley was “giddy and excited” travelling back to Carlisle with another man who picked them up. In a defence statement prepared for trial, Goodfellow said Crawley mentioned “someone had died”, the person being “worse than (serial killer) Jeffrey Dahmer”, a “drug dealer” and being “glad he was gone”.

When interviewed, Goodfellow told police: “That’s when I then said ‘shut the f*ck up, you’re talking sh*t you know, I’ll hit you, kind of stuff. I can’t exactly remember what I said but I remember it worked. It shut him up.”

Days later, Goodfellow saw police appeals for information about Mr Taylor’s disappearance which included Corsa images.

Mr Byrne asked Goodfellow, of Greystone Road, Carlisle: “Was that the first time you had made the connection between the car and the disappearance of Mr Taylor?”

“Yes,” said Goodfellow, who was asked about the effect: “Quite a bit. I was quite stressed from then on. I realised there was more to it than I knew.”

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Goodfellow told the court there was "no truth" to Crawley's claims during evidence that the pair had been involved in criminal activity. He went on to say he had heard nothing of organised crime gangs operating in areas including Carlisle, as stated by Crawley.

It had been suggested by the prosecution that these claims by Crawley were “nonsense”. “Do you agree with that?” Mr Byrne asked Goodfellow, who replied: “Yes I do.”

Mr Byrne also asked: “It was suggested to Mr Crawley he is a compulsive liar and was making his evidence up as he was going along. Do you agree with that?”

Goodfellow — a man without criminal convictions — responded: “Yes I do.”

Crawley also denies trying to murder a man with a hammer near York on January 5 this year after skipping bail and leaving Carlisle.

The trial continues.

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