Murder accused Craig Conway tells jury he never meant to kill his friend

A murder accused told a jury he never meant to kill his friend as he took to the stand at Teesside Crown Court.

Craig Conway, 30, is on trial accused of murdering Simon Bennett in the Greenway, in Thorntree.

He told the court he doesn’t know what he used to stab Mr Bennett, 29, and doesn’t know what happened to it after the fatal incident.

He told the jury he was full of regret after the stabbing.

He said: “I took another man’s life. Not only that, I took a friend’s life.”

Conway has admitted a charge of manslaughter but denies murder.

Conway told the jury that he had known Mr Bennett since he was about 12 or 13. He said he had grown up in Pallister Park while Mr Bennett was from Thorntree.

He said: “We were good friends. Pals, mates from local areas”.

Conway told the court that Mr Bennett had become angry with him about a remark he had made about a man called Micky Robbo who was in prison.

Conway said he had seen Mr Bennett and his friend Daniel Blenkinsop on the morning of the fatal stabbing and had told them he had heard Micky Robbo was claiming he had been “set up” and “someone had grassed him in”.

He said later that night, while Conway was at his home in Berwick Hills Avenue, he got a message from Mr Bennett accusing him of starting the rumour.

The pair argued on text and on the phone before meeting on the Greenway. Conway said Mr Bennett was running towards him.

He told the court: “I walked towards Simon. I had my hands out to the side and I said I didn’t want to fight.”

Conway said: “He was running towards me and his hands went up, his fists were ready. I had no choice but to fight back.”

He said Mr Bennett made the first punch. He said he threw some punches at Mr Bennett but didn’t know if they landed.

He said he fell to the ground and Mr Bennett was continuing to hit him in the back of the head.

He said: “I thought it wasn’t going to stop. I thought it was going to keep going.

“As I was down I picked something up and I swung as if throwing a punch. I didn’t know where I had hit him. I heard a pop sound. I knew then I had stabbed him.”

He told the court he does not know what the object he used was or what happened to it after the stabbing. He told police he dropped it on the grass after the attack.

He told Mr Blenksop’s friends to call an ambulance telling them “I’ve stabbed him”.

He then left the scene on a motorbike.

Asked why he left, he said: “It was all dead scary, it all happened too fast. I know if I stayed there something else was going to happen.”

He said he later cried and hoped he hadn’t killed Mr Bennett. When he was told he died, Conway handed himself in to Middlesbrough Police Station.

Asked how he felt after the death. He said: “I was gutted. Something so daft could come to this. We were friends.”

Proceeding.