Three men accused of murder took train to Scotland

THREE men accused of murdering a grandad who was shot dead in his County Durham home took a train to Scotland shortly after the shooting, a jury has heard.

- DAVID HUNTLEY

Barry Dawson was fatally shot through a downstairs window of his terraced house on Elm Street, South Moor, Stanley on April 5, this year.

Five men were later charged with the murder of the 60-year-old and are currently standing trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Kevin Dorward, 38, of New Durham Road, Stanley; Thomas Lee Sterling, 22, of The Avenue, Stanley; Kelvin Craig Lawson, 37, of Frosterley Gardens, Stanley; Keith Edward Dorward, 38, of no fixed address, and Sean Reay, 30, of Sabin Terrace, Stanley, all deny murder.

A sixth defendant, Michaela Hetherington, 35, of South View Gardens, Annfield Plain, Stanley, is also standing trial accused of perverting the court of justice. She denies the charge.

On the second day of the trial yesterday, the jury heard that not long after the alleged murder, Reay, Lawson, and Sterling caught a train to Edinburgh. Prosecutor, Francis Fitzgibbon KC said that shortly before 8pm on April 5, Lawson had booked a taxi under the name ‘Seymour’