A murder accused denied responsibility for the death of Teresa Ryan, or for burgling her home, in a police interview.
David McCabe told officers he was out looking for his girlfriend, at his aunt’s home and visiting his aunt’s friend on the night Ms Ryan died in a fire at her home.
He described Ms Ryan as a friend or acquaintance in a police interview on July 12, three days after the fatal fire.
He said he had known her for a few weeks and visited her home on Warton Street, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough two or three times.
He told police he helped carry her shopping home, chased away kids who were kicking at her door, and fixed her front door after she was burgled days before the fire.
McCabe, 32, now admits entering the mum-of-two’s home and stealing items the day before and the day of her death, a jury has heard.
He denies murder, claiming the fire must have started accidentally after he left the home, Teesside Crown Court was told.
The prosecution says he got into Ms Ryan’s house and robbed her of her handbag after a struggle on the night of July 9, her 50th birthday.
It is alleged she was rendered unconscious, McCabe set fire to her bed to eradicate evidence and left her helpless, knowing she would die.
Ms Ryan, who had Huntington’s disease which affected her movement, died from smoke inhalation.
The court heard that McCabe, of Barrington Crescent, Thorntree, Middlesbrough, now says he took Ms Ryan’s handbag as it hung over her kitchen door.
Her sister Carol Ryan, a nursing sister, gave evidence in the trial yesterday.
She said: “Her balance had got really bad. To hang a handbag over the door, she would have to reach up with both hands.
“Reaching up with both hands, she would lose her balance. It physically would be impossible for her to do.
“She wouldn’t be able to without falling. I’ve never seen her hang her bag up on anything in the past.
“She always kept it beside her. She always took it with her.”
A 13-year-old boy also gave evidence, saying in a police video interview he saw McCabe at Ms Ryan’s house “every day”.
He told how he saw McCabe looking through her windows and banging on the door the week before the fire.
Eight days before the fire he said he saw McCabe “barge his way through”.
The boy said: “She opened it (the door) a tiny bit. He started pushing through.”
He said McCabe came out half an hour later putting money into his pockets.
He had also seen McCabe with Ms Ryan carrying her shopping bags.
The boy said he saw McCabe on the corner of Warton Street with a bottle of cider and a bag of clothes on the night of the fire.
Proceeding
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