Lee McKnight: Accused seen cleaning up blood after house attack

A Carlisle woman was seen cleaning up “specks of blood” in her kitchen just hours after Lee McKnight was ”beaten to the point of death” inside the address.

A friend of Carol Edgar - one of six people accused of roles in the alleged murder of Mr McKnight - told jurors in their trial at the city’s crown court he visited her home on 24th July.

Raymond Light said he went there regularly, that he was friends with Carol, 48, and had known her 26-year-old daughter Coral Edgar — another defendant — since she was a baby.

Mr Light said 24th July was his birthday, and recalled going to their Charles Street address. He recalled Coral answered the door, said “hello” and sat down on front of the television, which he said was unusual. Jamie Davison, another defendant who had been staying at the address for several weeks, was asleep on a chair.

Carol Edgar, said Mr Light, “was in the back kitchen cleaning”. Mr Light noticed her black Nissan Navara pick-up was not outside the address. “She said it had been TWOC’d — taken without the owner’s consent,” recalled Mr Light. He added of a follow-up remark she made about that matter: “She had already contacted the police.”

Mr Light said of her house work: “She cleaned the work tops, just dishes that were in the sink. Then she sat down and wiped a couple of specks of blood off the cupboard, and a couple off the floor while she was talking to me,” he stated.

Asked whether he was surprised by that, Mr Light continued: “Na, it wasn’t unusual for me to see that. Because the way of life that we live, she was an IV (intravenous) user, a heroin user, she used to inject. Blood used to get spilt and I’ve seen it before.”

Under cross-examination, Mr Light agreed Carol Edgar was “not in a good place in terms of her health” at that time, and “poorly” because of the “cocktail” of drugs she was using.

He also assumed her quiet daughter Coral was having an “off day” as she was usually very chatty. “But I didn’t think nowt of it,” he added.

Jurors also heard statements from friends of Mr McKnight who spoke of people chasing him for money in the months before his death.

One recalled an occasion in late 2019 when Davison called at his address while Mr McKnight was visiting.

The pair left his home briefly before Mr McKnight returned. “Lee told me he owed Jamie money for drugs and that he had just given him £2,000 but still owed him more,” said the friend. “Lee then said he was due to meet him again the following week to give him more money but Lee said he did not have (it) and was going to struggle to get it.”

The following month Davison returned in company with a man carrying a baseball bat who was “angry” and “aggressive” when told Mr McKnight wasn’t present. And in February, 2020, Davidson was back again, this time with two men who had “Geordie” accents; one carried a bat and the other a “very large spanner”.

Again Mr McKnight wasn’t present but his friend remembered after the last incident he would ask to be collected from work, and was “increasingly scared” and “worried”. “He had it in his head he would be assaulted by them,” said his pal.

Carol Edgar, Coral Edgar and Jamie Davison, 26, along with three other men, deny murder. The trial continues.