Murder accused 'dumped phone to put police off'

A man accused of murdering a grandmother while she was walking her dog dumped her phone to "put the police off the trail", a court heard.

Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC told jurors at Ipswich Crown Court that news coverage about the killing of grandmother Anita Rose prompted Roy Barclay to get rid of the phone.

The mother-of-six, 57, was found injured near a sewage works in Brantham, Suffolk, on 24 July last year. She died four days later in hospital from traumatic head injuries.

Mr Barclay, 56, of no fixed address, denies her murder.

Mr Paxton said Mr Barclay's internet search history showed he had looked at news articles about the incident in the days after the attack.

The prosecutor told the jury this was because "his very future and freedom depended on what happened next - because he was Anita's attacker".

Mr Paxton said in one article viewed by the defendant, senior police officer Mike Brown appealed for information about Ms Rose's iPhone which Mr Brown said could hold "key information".

This "was a signal to cunning Roy Barclay that he needed to get rid of that phone", he added.

"Mike Brown was right and that explains what was to follow the very next day in Ipswich town centre on July 27," said Mr Paxton.

"Roy Barclay dumps Anita's iPhone after Mr Brown has told the public in an article Mr Barclay has viewed about the significance of that phone."

He said that the "dropping of Anita's phone in Ipswich" had been intended "to put the police off the trail".

The jury was then played CCTV footage, which the prosecution said showed the defendant walking to a seating area off Upper Orwell Street in Ipswich and leaving a carrier bag containing Ms Rose's phone.

The court was told a couple then picked up the phone minutes later and turned it on, which in turn alerted Suffolk Police.

Mr Paxton said Mr Barclay was playing "a cat and mouse game" with the police, watching their movements and announcements.

He added the defendant had also looked up local prisons online, which was a sign of him wondering which prison he would end up in if caught.

Mr Paxton said the defendant had already been unlawfully at large for two years at the time of Ms Rose's death.

The barrister earlier told jurors Mr Barclay had "lived off-grid" and slept in "various makeshift camps".

"He had been on the run trying to avoid the police and authorities to try and avoid being recalled back to prison," Mr Paxton said.

The trial continues.

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