The DNA of a Huyton man accused of possessing a gun with intent to endanger life was not found on the weapon or its ammunition, a court heard
Armed police discovered an 8mm Bruni self-loading pistol when they raided Rueben Murphy’s home in Barkbeth Road on April 29 last year.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how officers found the loaded gun and 10 bullets in the pocket of a grey North Face jacket, which he was wearing around 20 minutes previously.
Murphy, 20, of Liverpool Road, Huyton , admits possessing the firearm and ammunition, but denies its possession with intent to endanger life.
The court heard how undercover police watched Murphy and another man on bikes in Huyton at around 2pm.
Prosecutors suggest Murphy was behaving suspiciously by trying to disguise his appearance with a scarf.
They say he approached an officer sat in a car and asked “are you following me?” before saying “you’re a bizzy” and riding away.
When his house was searched at around 2.30pm, the gun was recovered with one bullet in the chamber and nine rounds in an attached magazine.
Murphy told police he bought the gun for £50 and claimed it was an imitation firearm. However, he later accepted it was a modified “rebore”, which had been “drilled out”.
The defendant chose not to take the stand to give evidence this morning.
Geoffrey Lowe, defending, said his client had admitted the serious offence of possessing a firearm, but no further inference or conclusion could be drawn as to why he had the gun.
Mr Lowe questioned the logic of any suggestion his client may have had the gun in his pocket when he approached the policeman – who did not see any weapon.
He said: “He must be an extremely stupid villain to go up to somebody who is a police officer with a weapon in his pocket. For all he knew the officer might do something.”
Mr Lowe said there was more than one possible explanation why his client may have had the gun.
General view of Barkbeth Road, where Rueben Murphy’s home was raided. Photo taken from Google Maps.
He said: “Can you be sure that the only view of that is that he had an intention to endanger life?
“When you look at the case and look at the evidence, and step away from fancy theory and attempts to make it all fit in, at the heart of this case a gun has been recovered, and a man has pleaded guilty to its possession.”
Mr Astbury told the jury the evidence “spoke very much for itself” and the gun was “ready to be fired at the squeeze of a trigger”.
He said the jury must decide whether a policeman trying to keep his cover and sat in a car stuck in traffic would be a match for a young man on a bike who could easily get away.
He said: “This wasn’t an air pistol. This wasn’t a BB gun. It was a self-loading lethal weapon. It had been prepared to be fired deliberately.
“It was in the kitchen in the pocket of this defendant’s jacket. It wasn’t hidden away in a garden. It wasn’t stored in a cupboard out of sight. It was good to go.
“It couldn’t, you may think, have been more ready to be used on the streets of this city.”
The jury retired to consider its deliberations but were sent home for the night.
(Proceeding)
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/