THE fellow security guard who was in the dock alongside Jack Crawley but cleared of wrongdoing today offered sympathy to the family of murder victim Paul Taylor.

“Nobody should have to go through what they have had to endure,” said Marcus Goodfellow, 20, who was found not guilty of “assisting an offender.”

The jury found him not guilty following his evidence that, when he travelled in Mr Taylor’s Vauxhall Corsa with Crawley on October 19, the day after the murder, he knew nothing about the killing or the car’s link to the victim.

It was only after he saw the Corsa in a missing poster, he said, that he made any link between the Corsa and Mr Taylor's disappearance.

In a statement, Mr Goodfellow, of Greystone Road, Carlisle, offered his "deepest condolences" to the Taylor family. He also thanked the jury.

The statement added: “I have been asked if I hold a grudge towards the police. The answer is no.” He said he accepted the police and the prosecution were simply doing their job in pursuing the prosecution.

Following his acquittal, Mr Goodfellow said he never wanted to repeat such an experience. He said he was charged as the result of him making a “stupid decision,” a reference to him agreeing to get into the car with Crawley.

That decision, he said, had dragged him unwittingly into the events of October 19 last year in the aftermath of Mr Taylor's death and he would have to live with this for the rest of his life.

Mr Goodfellow said he would not answer questions about Crawley, his former colleague in security work at The Cumberland Infirmary.

He added: “Finally, I would like to thank my family and those friends who chose to stick by me during this dark period.

“You know who you are and I can’t thank you enough. I’d also like to thank my defence counsel Jonathan Cousins and Peter Byrne for representing me during this difficult time.”