Poster man on fatal shooting charge was 'set up' jury told

A flyposter charged with shooting two men, one of whom died, in a city centre yesterday told a court that he was nowhere near the scene of the attack.

Marcel Williams, 32, of Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, told Liverpool Crown Court that he was at a barbecue in Halebarns, Cheshire, from late afternoon until about 9.30pm before he went to a pub with his brother and other people.

He then spent the night at his girlfriend's flat, but the following day learnt that he was being "set up" for the shootings. He received a telephone call at his home from someone with a local accent saying that he was "a dead man".

Mr Williams denies murdering Chris Horrox, 30, of Glossop, Derbyshire, and attempting to murder his business partner Jimmy Carr, 46, of Sale, Greater Manchester.

The court has heard that Mr Carr and Mr Horrox were out at night putting up bills when Mr Carr was hit by four bullets and Mr Horrox was shot through the head on 2 May 1994.

Mr Williams said that he and Mr Carr "got on" and although they had different personalities, there was no reason for him to shoot him. He said that he had only met Mr Horrox on one or two occasions and had thought he was a student.

Four days before the shooting Mr Carr had told him and an acquaintance, Gregory Clark, that he had a consignment of guns coming that weekend, Mr Williams said.

He said Mr Carr also claimed in early January that year that Mr Horrox was going to drive him down to London to pick up some guns and bring them back to Manchester.

Mr Carr has told the court that he and Mr Horrox, who worked for his London-based brother, were out flyposting because Mr Horrox had a rush job of film posters. He said that they were about a mile from the city centre, when Mr Williams arrived and asked, "what's happening?"

Mr Williams left and returned about 11pm when they were working at the junction of Sackville Street and Bombay Street, walked towards them and shot him twice, according to Mr Carr.

He said that he pretended to be dead, was shot twice more and then heard Mr Williams shoot Mr Horrox. Convinced that he was dying he gathered several people around him and named Mr Williams as his assailant.

Mr Carr, who runs the flyposting business in Manchester, has told the court that he was not involved in the firearms or drugs trades.

The case continues.