A MAN suspected of killing his great uncle said in an interview he left a pub drunk, was picked up by his uncle and went home at the time the murder is said by police to have taken place.

Adam Mason, 33, of Plough Lane, Tibberton, denies murdering Desmond Wooding at the 80-year-old’s home in Vines Lane, Droitwich on June 23 last year.

Mark Mason, 55, also of Plough Lane, Tibberton, is alleged to have driven his nephew away from the scene, with the prosecution saying he intended to impede the apprehension or prosecution of Adam Mason, knowing or believing him to be guilty of the murder or another arrestable offence.

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On the fifth day of the trial the jury was read police statements that said Adam Mason was arrested on the morning of July 8 at passport control at Birmingham airport, after he returned from a holiday to Tenerife.

The officer said in the statement that when Adam Mason was told he was being arrested for Desmond Wooding's murder, his replied "who" and the victim's name had to be repeated to him.

The officer said he gave no further response but when asked if he had his phone on him, Adam Mason replied: "I left it on holiday, or left it on the plane."

Adam Mason had been captured on CCTV walking a dog and taking 20 minutes to pass two cameras, one by the victim's home and one a couple of minutes away by the pub, giving him time to commit the murder, the prosecution alleges.

The first of five interviews police conducted with Adam Mason on July 8, 2019, was then read out to the jury.

In the interview Adam Mason was told that from CCTV and witnesses he had been arrested for murder, so an officer asked what he had been doing that afternoon.

"I was in the Gardeners Arms pub, I had been there since 11," Adam Mason replied.

"I left the pub and rang my uncle about 9.15pm, I walked down Vines Lane and he (Mark Mason) was already there. I got picked up, he took me back (to my girlfriend's)."

Asked how much he had to drink at the pub Adam Mason replied he had 10 pints of cider and he had been stumbling when he left the pub.

Asked about how long it took to walk from the pub to meet his uncle, Adam Mason said "10 to 15 minutes" and replied Vines Lane was long "when you are drunk".

Asked about the call to his uncle Adam Mason said: "I just phoned him up and then he came down, and that was basically it."

Asked further Adam Mason said the reason he asked his uncle to pick him up was because he was drunk and because his leg had been hurting.

An officer asked he had to wait at the end of the road for his uncle to arrive, to which he replied "No".

Earlier David Mason QC cross examined Detective Constable Robert Loach, who the court had heard carried out analysis of 10 hours of CCTV.

DC Loach confirmed in questions asked that some areas, such as the Gardeners Arms car park, were not covered by the CCTV, accepted that the pub’s CCTV provided a "grainy image" that was not clear, and said that of the hundreds of people and cars that passed through there was one occasion where a motion sensory camera in Vines Lane had not been triggered.

But, DC Loach explained, this had been a car that had been picked up on the pub’s CCTV so was later accounted for.

DC Loach also rejected that he had been "looking for" images of Adam Mason, explaining that when first spotted he was not known to the investigation.

The trial continues.