A prison inmate denied he "shopped" a suspected murderer to police to get his sentence reduced, writes Phil Clee.

Kevin Williams, who had been in and out of prison since 1983, told Oxford Crown Court he contacted the authorities after fellow prisoner Mark Numms told him he had strangled a homeless teenager to death after a skirmish in an Oxford Park.

Richard Jackson, 16, was found dead in a puddle in Angel Meadow, off Magdalen Bridge, in January last year. Numms, 25, of the Bridge hostel in Iffley Road, Oxford, denies murder.

Mr Williams said Numms bragged about the killing in a fellow prisoner's cell at Bullingdon Prison, near Bicester, while on remand. He was acting "cocky and being clever" about having changed his clothes before contacting the police, so as to be "let off the hook" over the killing.

Mr Williams, who is currently in prison for burglary and possession of heroin, admitted he "loathed and detested" sex offenders. He said he believed Numms was possibly bisexual, and felt this was confirmed when Numms seemed concerned about DNA tests being carried out, and then admitted he had touched Mr Jackson's body "in the lower regions".

Mr Williams admitted being a segregated prisoner because he had given evidence against other prisoners in the past, and had had his current sentence reduced as a result. However, he insisted his witness statement against Numms had not led to any further reduction.

But David Hughes, defending, told him: "What you are is a thoroughly dishonest liar who has made an assessment of someone who he loathes and detests, and then told the police a pack of lies."

Written evidence was given from a prison visitor, Trisha Brindley, who picked up a hitch-hiker on the M4 at Swindon while on her way to Bristol, two days after Mr Jackson's death. The man, who fitted Numms's description, said he was going to Cardiff. He told her he had found a friend dead in a park. He said the friend had been raped and murdered.

She added: "He told me it had made him drunk. I didn't feel fazed by this because I'm a prison visitor."

The trial continues.

Story date: Thursday 10 February

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