Jury told alleged murder victim Andrew Darn 'worried' after being followed and threatened

A dad allegedly murdered after a dispute between neighbouring businesses was worried about going to work on the day he died after being followed and threatened the previous day, his partner told jurors.

Alder Willis, 68, who ran a sandwich shop, is accused of stabbing garage door fitter Andrew Darn, 35, to death on the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate, in North Shields, following 14 years of antagonism between the two firms which began over parking.

Newcastle Crown Court has heard that the day before the alleged attack in March, Willis was said to have threatened and followed Mr Darn following a spat between two women at the respective businesses over claims that one of them threw food at the other while feeding seagulls - and that the other responded by hitting her.

Stephanie Cochrane, Mr Darn's partner of 18 years, and mother to his three children, told jurors that on 26 March, around 3.20pm, she got a call from Mr Darn.

She said: “He said he had just got home. He was upset, distressed, a little annoyed.” She said he told her a man from the sandwich shop next to where he worked had been following him.

Ms Cochrane said he told her the man had threatened: “I’m going to get someone to f****** stab you and you’re going to be f****** dead’."

She added: “Andrew couldn’t understand why he had followed him all the way from work, which is quite a distance, it’s a good few miles.”

She added that he told her about the incident between the two women earlier that day and said: “Andrew said they were both out of order for what went on. He said he had nothing to do with it and saw what happened through the window. He said he didn’t want any part of what was going on.“Andrew said he thought it was the incident between the two women that led to the man being hostile towards him on that occasion. I asked if he had done anything to provoke him, did he say anything that may have made him want to follow him. He assured me he hadn’t.

“I suggested Andrew should tell the police about what happened. He said he didn’t want to make the situation worse. He didn’t want anything further to happen.”

Ms Cochrane added: “Andrew told me on a previous occasion, maybe more than once, he (Willis) had threatened to get somebody to stab Andrew and he would also throw him dirty looks on every occasion he could. He said he wanted Andrew stabbed, he wanted to cause some harm to Andrew.”

She was asked about the morning of 27 March, the day of the alleged murder, before Andrew left for work. She said: “He told me he was worried what 'that d******d' was going to be like when he got to work.”

Fighting back tears, she added: “He was worried. He told me he didn’t want to go. I said 'please don’t let it get to you, don’t do anything, just let it go’."

Cross-examining, Peter Makepeace KC suggested Mr Darn was angry that morning. Ms Cochrane replied: “No he was far from angry. He was hesitant to go to work.

“Downstairs I was feeding the baby and he stood in the kitchen and said ‘I don’t know what that d******d is going to be like’. That was him expressing his worry of something happening.”

Asked if he was in a bad mood, she replied: “He was in a good mood. This is my last memory of Andrew.

“We had a kiss, the boys ran to him and gave him another kiss. He went out of the door happy that the boys had given him an extra kiss that day.”

Responding to suggestions that her evidence about him being threatened in the past was not true, she replied: “I have told the truth. I don’t have anything to gain. Andrew is no longer here, it’s not going to bring him back no matter what I say.”

Mr Darn's boss, Norman Gibb, the owner of Easy Access Garage Doors since 1989, said Willis appeared outside on 26 March after his partner and secretary at the business, Linda Hedgcock, had clashed with Willis' partner.

He said Mr Darn, who had worked there since 2022, was standing behind Ms Hedgcock at the doorway.

Mr Gibb said: “He (Willis) said something like ‘are you here to protect her’. I can’t remember the exact words.”

The witness said Willis then said: “I’m going to f****** kill you’”. He said Willis was “quite angry by this time”, adding that Mr Darn did not say anything back.

Mr Gibb said that afternoon, when Mr Darn left the office and drove off, he saw Willis leave at exactly the same time.

Around 3pm, he said he got a phone call from Mr Darn. He said: “He said he had been followed by Mr Willis. Andrew said he stopped and Willis shouted ‘You’re dead’ then drove off.”

Mr Gibb confirmed that over the years there had been a series of incidents between the people working at his premises and the people at The Deli.

He said he kept a diary to record matters of concern in relation to people at The Deli. In one diary entry, in reference to an alleged incident in 31 October 2022, he wrote: “Psycho threatens to have Andrew knifed.”

Asked who “psycho” was, he replied: “Willis.” Asked if that was a name he gave him, he replied: “It was one of a few names I gave him.”

Asked about that diary entry, Mr Gibb said: “I can’t remember what it was about. I remember Willis saying ‘I’m going to call someone to come and stab you’."

Ms Hedgcock said on the afternoon of 26 March, she went outside to feed the seagulls, as she does every day with leftovers from lunch and on that day it was pieces of sausage roll.

She said: “Susan Clark (Willis' partner) walked past. I threw the sausage roll and she said it hit her then she thumped me.

“The sausage roll didn’t hit her. I didn’t throw it at her. I didn’t know she was there. She hit me on the arm but on the face as well, with her fist."

The witness told the court: “Willis heard the shouting then came out and added his bit. Just the normal swearing. The same sort of words Clark had said.”

She said Mr Darn had heard the commotion and appeared at her back. She said: “Willis said to Andrew he was going to kill him or he was going to stab him, something like that."

On the following morning, Ms Hedgcock got to work and saw Mr Darn in the driver’s seat of his car.

She said: “He seemed to be looking down. I thought he was looking at his phone.” She added that she opened the passenger door and said hello, adding: “He was dead.”

Willis, of Allanville, Camperdown, denies murder and having a bladed article.

The trial continues.

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