THE judge in the Dillon Hull murder trial began his summing up yesterday, one month to the day since the case opened at Preston Crown Court. Mr Justice Forbes warned the nine men and three women jurors not to let their judgement be "clouded" or "distorted" by emotion.

In a speech expected to continue throughout today, the judge began by urging that all evidence be considered dispassionately by the jury.

There was to be no room for anger, strong disapproval, disgust, dismay, revulsion or sympathy, he told them.

Gunman

He added: "You must put all such feelings to one side. They must not be allowed to influence your decision."

And he pointed out that perhaps the central issue of the whole case was the identity of the gunman who killed Dillon, aged five, with a single shot to the head and wounded the boy's stepfather John Bates in the attack in Bankfield Street, Deane, on August 6, 1997. He explained that his summing up would take two parts. Firstly he would deal with legal matters and suitable direction, he explained, before then reminding jurors of the main facts of the case.

He also urged the jurors to draw no conclusions from evidence they have heard about the drug dealing activities of three defendants - Paul Seddon, David Hargreaves and Craig Hollinrake.

And he warned jurors to be careful when considering the evidence of witnesses who claimed to have identified Paul Seddon as the gunman and as a man seen running from the scene.

Referring to the evidence of John Bates, Keith Black and Marian Taylor, the judge pointed out that it was possible for honest witnesses to have made a mistake. Earlier, the Crown Court heard the final submissions from defence counsel in their last two speeches to the jury.

Paul William Seddon, 27, of Chorley New Road, Bolton, denies the murder of Dillon and the attempted murder of Mr Bates.

David Hargreaves, 24, of Aldercroft Avenue, Breightmet, Craig Hollinrake, 25, of Glaister Lane, Breightmet, and 22-year-old Brian David Roper of Ferndown Road, Harwood, deny conspiring to murder Mr Bates.

They have also pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of conspiring to cause Mr Bates grevious bodily harm with intent.

Mr Stephen Riordan, QC, representing Hollinrake began by giving what he submitted were five reasons why his client was not part of the prosecution's "speculative theory" centred around the alleged conspiracy.

Visited

The Crown allege that Hollinrake visited Mr Bates' home in Jauncey Street, Deane, shortly before Dillon died, with the purpose of drawing the intended victim to the door. But Mr Riordan countered: "Supposing everything went according to plan and John Bates is lured to the front door. Who is the prime suspect for helping to engineer it all? Craig Hollinrake.

"The prosection cannot explain the relationship between John Bates and Craig Hollinrake, which simply otherwise does not fit in with their conspiracy theory."

He went on to stress that following the first shooting incident, early in the morning of the same day that Dillon died, Mr Bates rang Hollinrake.

Later the two men talked on the phone when Bates allegedly claimed he believed Hargreaves was involved in some way.

Mr Riordan highlighted that Mr Bates had taken Hollinrake into his trust, trying to get some information about Hargreaves, adding: "In a world of little trust he displayed great confidence you may think in Craig Hollinrake." He also warned the jury to be wary when considering what Mr Bates' partner, Jane Hull, had said, suggesting that she had been dishonest in the witness box and that her mind was "poisoned" against the defendants.

The jury also heard counsel's final submission on behalf of Roper, who is represented by Mr Peter Burkitt, QC.

He began by highlighting four areas of evidence involving Roper - the collection of the helmet, driving Hargreaves to buy some gloves, telephone calls between the accused and his interviews with the police.

Referring to telephone calls made just before and shortly after Dillon died, Mr Burkitt claimed this was the "centre of this case" when an alleged plot may have been "put into action". But he stressed there was no involvement of Roper at all during this stage.

Mr Burkitt claimed in court that Roper was acting purely and simply as a part-time driver for Hargreaves and stressed that he had spoken to no-one nor left the car he was driving when the four men visited a lock-up garage to collect a crash helmet, later alleged to have been worn by the killer.

Spotted

And referring to a trip he made to Smalls Army and Navy Store in Bradshawgate with Hargreaves on the day of the murder, Mr Burkitt claimed that anyone worried about being spotted would not have parked his car directly outside the shop as Roper had done. His defence counsel went on to allege that telephone traffic involving Roper was no different on the day that Dillon died to that of previous days, when Hargreaves would ring him up for lifts.

He concluded: "I would ask you to say that there's really not enough evidence to find him guilty of this very serious crime." Proceeding

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