DILLON Hull's stepfather stared his son's killer in the face moments before the child was blasted in the head and killed, a court was told yesterday.

The murder trial jury considering the killing of the five-year-old Bolton boy was hearing evidence from Arvind Patel, who claimed he had walked only three feet past the gunman shortly before the shooting.

Mr Patel confirmed that he remembered Dillon's stepfather, John Bates, turn and face the man who pulled the trigger, wounding him and killing the boy with a single bullet.

He remembered seeing a man wearing a yellow crash helmet near a yellow Metro car who then later pulled the gun.

Questioned by Anthony Gee, QC, prosecuting, Mr Patel confirmed Mr Bates had faced the man for a second before any bangs were heard.

But questioned by David Fish, QC, representing Paul Seddon, 27, of Chorley New Road, Bolton, who denies murdering Dillon and the attempted murder of John Bates, Mr Patel claimed he had glimpsed what he believed to be a moustache on the face of the killer.

He also claimed a crash helmet with a full face visor that was found in a ginnel near the scene of the shooting, and which was shown to him in court, was not the one worn by the killer.

Preston Crown Court also heard that Mr Patel had been so "affected" by what he had seen, he had not given a statement to police until October 13, 1998.

Describing to Mr Gee the moment the shooting occurred on August 6, 1997, in Bankfield Street, Deane, Mr Patel said: "I saw flashes coming out of the gun. At that time I was shaken so much I was frozen."

Yesterday morning the court also heard final evidence from Seddon, who was spending a second day in the witness box.

He alleged in court that a former girlfriend, Leanne Knox, who he says he was with at her home in Clarke Street at the time of Dillon's murder, had "started taking heroin".

Seddon also alleged yesterday that Miss Knox was now the girlfriend of a man he called Jason Wilding, whom he described as the best friend of John Bates. He confirmed he did not expect her to be called as a witness.

Earlier Seddon claimed that £4,000 he asked another former girlfriend, Alison Wright, the mother of his daughter, to place in her bank account the day after the shooting, was his father William's savings.

Mr Seddon Snr took to the witness stand claiming that the money was his, which he had collected over the years, including a £1,100 Social Services pay out following a successful appeal for back pay in respect of a disability premium.

Seddon's father said the money had been stored at a house in Blackledge Street where he was living with stepson Lee Foxcroft.

But he asked Paul Seddon to "hang on to it" for safe keeping. His son alleges this is the money that was seized by police when he was arrested on August 13, 1997, at his mother's home in Brandwood Street, Bolton.

A Bolton youth worker also told the court how Seddon and Mr Bates had been members of the same youth club in Breightmet between 1984 and 1989.

George Keech remembered the two men mixing while at the centre, adding: "They knew each other. They would move from different groups but were quite often together."

With Seddon in the dock are three other men: David Hargreaves, 24, of Aldercroft Avenue, Breightmet; Craig Hollinrake, 25, of Glaister Lane, Breightmet;, and Brian David Roper, 22, of Ferndown Road, Harwood.

All deny conspiring to murder Mr Bates and a separate allegation of conspiring to cause him grevious bodily harm with intent.

Proceeding

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.