Woman denies luring Lee McKnight to her house “for sex” before attack

A woman has denied inviting Lee McKnight around to her Carlisle home “for sex” on the night he was beaten almost to death inside her property and dumped in a river.

Spending a fourth day giving evidence at the city’s crown court, Coral Edgar was cross-examined by Tim Evans, for the prosecution. Edgar, 26, is one of six people on trial accused of murdering Mr McKnight early on 24th July last year.

Earlier this week, Edgar told jurors she had known Mr McKnight for five or six years and that he was a dealer from whom she “mainly” bought her drugs. “I’ve had an intimate relationship with him before,” she said, explaining that was “couple of months” before his death.

Edgar said she placed a drug order with him during a Snapchat exchange on 23rd July, and told how he was punched by drug-dealing “middle man” Jamie Davison almost immediately upon entering her Charles Street address. She then heard a “ferocious” attack in the kitchen, looking in once to see Mr McKnight bleeding on the floor and three men — Davison, Arron Graham and Jamie Lee Roberts, she alleges — standing.

During cross-examination from Mr Evans, Edgar said: “I expected him to drop the drugs off and leave.” She insisted there was “no plan” to lure him there under false pretences and described being “petrified” by what took place.

Mr Evans suggested: “The arrangement was to get him there, promise him staying the night for sex.”

“No,” replied Edgar.

“...so the attack Davison planned could take place,” added Mr Evans.

“No,” she said.

Edgar earlier told jurors Davison and Graham left her property with Mr McKnight after the attack, along with Roberts’ father Paul, who had arrived latterly.

Jurors have also watched CCTV footage of Edgar leaving a convenience store near her home just before 5pm on 24th July. She and Paul Roberts talked outside.

She recalled of their conversation: “He said it was ladgeful what they had done to Lee.” “Ladgeful”, she told the trial judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, meant “horrible”.

But she denied discussing the earlier incident involving Mr McKnight.

“It’s the hot topic, it’s the most dramatic thing that could have have happened,” observed Mr Evans.

But Edgar replied: “I did not want to talk about it.”

“Didn’t you want to to find out what had happened to your friend and former sexual partner?” asked Mr Evans.

“We knew he had been assaulted,” said Edgar.

“You didn’t talk about it because you didn’t need to know what had happened because you knew fine well that Lee had been savagely beaten and his body taken away to be dumped,” Mr Evans suggested.

Edgar denied that was the case.

After Edgar’s lengthy spell in the witness box concluded, it was confirmed that her 47-year-old mother and fellow suspect, Carol, would not be giving evidence to jurors.

The two women, along with Davison, Graham and Roberts junior and senior, deny murder, and the trial continues.