Edgware murder accused denies knowing Garry Frater had died (From Times Series)

Edgware murder accused denies knowing Garry Frater had died

4:35pm Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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A MAN accused of the murder of a father-of-three in Edgware did not know anyone had been hurt until he was arrested, a court heard.

Jake Lee took to the witness stand today in the Garry Frater murder trial, and said he was not aware the car he was in had struck and killed the 32-year-old.

Mr Lee, of Acton, said: “I didn't know that anyone was in the road, I didn't even know that anyone got hurt.

“I was too scared to be thinking about whether anyone had been hit. I felt nothing, I just thought we had hit a speed bump.”

The 23-year-old stands accused at the Old Bailey with Louis Tate, 24, of North Acton, of mowing down Mr Frater in the early hours of May 30 last year in De Havilland Road.

The pair have told the court Mr Frater's best friend Delvin Robinson smashed an axe into the windscreen of the car causing Mr Tate, the driver, to reverse suddenly hitting Mr Frater.

Mr Lee said: “He just smashed the car. Before I could even realise, the car just shot backwards.

“I was shocked and scared because he had smashed the car. I was pee-ed off.”

The court heard Mr Frater's body was dragged underneath the Ford Fiesta for several metres before Mr Tate accelerated away.

Mr Robinson, earlier in the trial, told the court he launched the axe attack only after seeing his friend hit by the car and dragged along the ground.

Mr Frater, who lived with his mother in Cobham Close, just yards from where he was hit by the car, was rushed to hospital but died later that day from multiple injuries.

The incident was the culmination of a night out in Watford, when Mr Lee was seen on CCTV “shadowing” the movements of Mr Frater, his girlfriend Sinead Lambert, Mr Robinson and a 21-year-old female friend.

Mr Lee and his friend Mr Tate had been in regular contact via mobile phones and they followed the four as they took a taxi back to Edgware.

Mr Lee told the jury they had gone to Watford hoping to “score” with women, and he had got the impression Ms Lambert was interested in meeting up later that night.

He said they followed the men around Watford town centre and then home in the taxi to see if they were leaving the women, and it was not until a confrontation with Mr Frater in Edgware that he realised he had mis-read the situation.

Mr Lee claimed he and Mr Frater “touched fists” as a friendly gesture, but then things turned nasty as Mr Frater continued the confrontation and then Mr Robinson launched the axe attack.

Both the defendants deny using the car as a deadly murder weapon and the trial continues.

Defence and prosecution barristers are due to sum up their arguments tomorrow before the jury retires to consider its verdict.