Murder accused teen tells court he only intended to burgle Gateshead flat to take dog

Murder accused Leandro Lopes told a court he only planned to burgle a flat to take a dog on the night he allegedly killed a dad.

Lopes, 18, is accused, along with two other teenagers aged 15 and 17, of murdering Gary Belfield and attempting to murder his son, Luke Williams, in their home in Felling, Gateshead. Giving evidence to jurors at Newcastle Crown Court, Lopes said he did not intend to kill or seriously hurt anyone.

He said the only violence he used with a weapon was to stab Gary Belfield in the thigh with a screwdriver when he came towards him and caused him to feel frightened. Lopes told the court he was born in Portugal but moved to the UK when he was six to live with his aunt and grew up in Walker, Newcastle.

He said he had had issues over the years because of his skin colour and was in the habit of carrying a screwdriver "because I was scared of being hurt because of my skin colour and stuff like that".

He said on April 27 he asked to got a phone call from the 15-year-old girl asking him to help the 17-year-old to burgle a house to get a dog the girl said belonged to someone she knew. He told the court: "She said if I was able to get the dog I was able to get anything else from the house and that no one else was going to be there."

He said he realised he should not be breaking into people's homes but agreed to go along with it. Lopes said he got changed into black clothes and put a balaclava on and went to the home of the 17-year-old before all three of them headed to the area where Mr Belfield and his son lived. He said he did not know them and had never been there before.

Lopes said that as they got near the house, they saw two men heading towards their home and the 15-year-old said it was them. However he said they then decided to go ahead with the burglary.

He added: "We decided to go creeping in. We crept into the door. (The 17-year-old) went in first. As we got in, he was in front of me." He said he saw "a shadow appear from the lounge" and the 17-year-old went in.

He told jurors: "That's when (he) and the male started getting it on physically, started fighting. I didn't expect this to happen. It happened quickly.

"As I seen him and the male fight I came behind him and then that's when Gary got off the sofa and then came towards me and I got frightened because I thought he was going to attack me.

"I grabbed the screwdriver out of my waist and that's when I stabbed him in the thigh."

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Lopes said Mr Belfield then grabbed him and threw him towards the door and they then started fighting. He said Mr Belfield tried to punch him and he was fighting back but he said "he seemed stronger than me".

He added: "I was feeling frightened. Gary got the best of me and he ended up on top of me.

"While Gary was on top of me I heard someone run out of the door then I felt like someone was attacking Gary while he was on top of me."

He said he wriggled from beneath Mr Belfield, who he said was on the sofa the last time he saw him. Lopes said he then left with the dog, which the 15-year-old girl took off him outside, he said.

He said he did not know at the time how badly injured the two men were. Lopes said he thought there would be problems for him as a result of what had happened and so he and the 17-year-old decided to change their clothes and burn the ones they had been wearing. He said his clothes had blood on them and that he threw the screwdriver he had used down a drain.

Asked by his barrister, Toby Hedworth KC, if he had a knife at any time, he replied: "Never." He added that he had not caused any injury with a weapon apart from the one to Mr Belfield's thigh, which he says he inflicted with a screwdriver.

Mr Hedworth said: "One person ended up being killed and another person was badly injured. When you were in that house, did you ever intend to kill anybody?" Lopes replied: "Never."

Mr Hedworth asked: "Did you ever intend to hurt anybody seriously?" He replied: "No."

Mr Hedworth said: "When you used violence why did you use violence?" He replied: "Because I felt like I was going to get attacked."

Cross-examining him, Francis FitzGibbon KC, for the girl, said she had not asked him to burgle the house but had just asked him to help get the dog.

Mark McKone KC, for the 17-year-old, put it to Lopes he caused the fatal injuries to Mr Belfield but he denied this. Asked if he had seen the 17-year-old stab Mr Belfield, he said: "I could feel he was getting attacked. When (he) came back into the lounge I saw him with the knife in his hand coming towards Gary."

Prosecutor Peter Moulson KC, said photographs show there was no sign of injury on Lopes despite his defence being he was acting in self-defence. He also asked Lopes about his previous conviction for robbery and assault, which was a three onto one attack during which he repeatedly kicked the victim on the ground.

Lopes, of Archer Street, Wallsend, and the two youths deny murder and attempted murder. The trial continues.

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