Suspected killer had blood on his hands

VICTIM . . . Terence Taylor

A man accused of murder was found by a friend walking in the street with blood-stained hands on the night a retired Oldham paramedic was brutally battered to death, a jury was told.

Farmer Robert Lister told Manchester Crown Court that in the early hours of last May 31 he saw 31-year-old Michael Sanderson in Cockermouth’s Main Street with blood on his hands.

On the same night, former paramedic Terence Edward Taylor, known as Terry, was beaten to death in the Globe Hotel, during what prosecutors described as a “violent drunken rage”.

Giving evidence on day two of the murder trial, Mr Lister said he and Sanderson, of Arkleby Hall Cottages, Arkleby, Cumbria, were part of a 36-strong group on a pub crawl from their local.

After a day of drinking at various locations the group ended up in Cockermouth.

After the Globe closed, Mr Lister and friends went into Main Street to look for a taxi home when he saw Sanderson. He told the court: “He was limping a bit, a bit sore and as he got quite close I saw there was blood on his hands.”

Mr Lister told the court Sanderson seemed “drunk, a bit angry and upset”.

Mr Taylor, who lived in Oldham but had a caravan in Gilcrux, Cumbria, was also on the pub crawl, which was mainly made up of members of the Red Lion’s pool team.

Mr Taylor was discovered injured in the back room of the Globe and was pronounced dead on arrival at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

Mr Pratt asked Mr Lister if Sanderson said anything when they bumped into one another.

Sanderson denies murder and the trial continues.