ONE of the people accused of murdering Carlisle man Lee McKnight told a schoolboy he would "chop off" his brother's head, a jury heard.

The threat - allegedly made by 25-year-old Arron Graham - was followed by the defendant telling the youngster he would then throw the brother's body into a river "like he did with Lee McKnight."

Six defendants – four men and two women – are on trial at Carlisle Crown Court accused of murdering 26-year-old Lee McKnight last year.

Jamie Davison, 26, who was trying to recover a drugs debt said to run into thousands of pounds from Mr McKnight, is accused of having orchestrated the violence and recruiting two other men as “extra muscle” to put extra pressure on him.

The prosecution says Mr McKnight was severely beaten after being lured to a house in Charles Street in the early hours of July 24 last year.

Davison, of Beverley Rise, Harraby, denies murder, as do the two men accused of helping mete out the violence – Graham, 25, and 18-year-old Jamie Lee Roberts, of Grey Street, Carlisle.

The jury yesterday saw a video recording of the evidence given by a 12-year-old schoolboy, whose brother knew one of the accused.

The youngster said he and a group of friends were visiting the river at Armathwaite on July 31 last year when they encountered “Azzer” Graham, and Jamie Lee Roberts. The two were camping - but somebody had wrecked their tent, said the boy.

“There was this lad, called Jamie,” he said. “He said his dad got sent down for ‘M’ and he got away with it.”

“Azzer Graham said he was going to chop my brother’s head off and chuck him in the river like he did with Lee McKnight. That’s what he said. It wasn’t very pleasant.”

He said Graham and Roberts had been camping in an area called Sandy Bay for five days. Questioned further about what he claimed he had heard Roberts say, he rejected the suggestion that what was actually said was: “My dad got sent down for them.”

The boy replied: “No. He said M.” Barrister Fraser Livesey asked the boy: “Did Jamie Lee Roberts say I’ve got nothing to do with it?” The schoolboy replied: “No.”

The youngster was then quizzed about a phone call that he saw Roberts make.

Mr Livesey asked: “Did you see Jamie Lee Roberts tell whoever he was speaking to on the telephone, say to that person, ‘I have’ – in other words Jamie Lee Roberts – ‘got nothing to do with Lee?’”

The boy answered: “He did say that, yes.”

The witness rejected Mr Livesey’s suggestion that Roberts told the person he was on the phone to: “I’ll tell you exactly what happened: my dad took some clothes down to Jamie Davison and he’s getting six years in jail for it.”

The barrister asked: “Did you hear anything like that?”

The boy replied: “No.”

The boy, who said he had known Lee McKnight, denied that somebody had asked him to “tell lies” to get Jamie Lee Roberts into trouble. The jury also heard from Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rogers

He diagnosed the cause of Mr McKnight’s death as drowning, though he said that he had died that way because he was already unconscious – though still breathing – when put into the water.

On Mr McKnight’s head there were 36 injuries - 18 of them serious enough to be classed as "significant," he said. Mr McKnight was subjected to a severe beating he said.

The trial continues.