Christopher Allbury-Burridge murder trial: Accused denies 'making it up as he goes along', Northampton court hears

One of the four men accused of murdering Christopher Allbury-Burridge in Northampton repeatedly denied making up his story as he went along in the dock today (Thursday, August 12).

Joel Cyrus told the jury what happened on the night of the 33-year-old's death as the group tried to steal the cannabis grown in his home on Raeburn Road in December.

During cross-examination, the 26-year-old, from London, was questioned about several aspects of his explanation which he had changed from his original statement or could not remember.

James House QC, prosecuting, asked Cyrus on his second day at the stand: "You are making this up as you go along aren't you?"

The defendant replied: "I'm answering questions as you are asking them."

Mr Allbury-Burridge died from a stab wound to the chest at his house in Raeburn Road, Kingsley, in the early hours of December 11, 2020.

The murder and conspiracy to rob accused are: Cyrus, of Whitney Road, Leyton; Calum Farquhar, aged 24, of Liverpool Road, Leyton; Rakeem Leandre, aged 26, of Brewers Court, Norwich; and Jordan Parker, aged 24, of Chingford Road, Walthamstow.

Yesterday (Wednesday), the jury heard how Cyrus and Farquhar had burgled three cannabis grows in Northamptonshire in the months before the Northampton attempt.

On that night, Cyrus was at an Italian restaurant in central London with two friends when he said Farquhar and Parker called him to ask if he wanted to take part in another burglary.

He said he was initially hesitant as he had work early the next morning but said he would come if his friend, called Dele, who had helped on a previous burglary, came to speed up the process.

Dele agreed so after Cyrus had dropped his friends back home, he picked his other friend up and they travelled together to Raeburn Road, arriving at around 1.50am.

Farquhar, Parker and Leandre, who he had never met before, approached his car and introductions were made and Leandre asked for a lighter for his cigarette.

Cyrus told him to check the back, where Dele was sitting, then they went back to their car before Parker and Leandre walked into Raeburn Road and Cyrus and Dele followed.

The quartet went into the front gate of Mr Allbury-Burridge's home, which Cyrus insists he thought was empty despite a dim light coming from the upstairs window.

They went down a path to the right of the house to a fence, which Parker climbed over with Dele following him.

But Cyrus had a knee injury which preventing him from doing so he went back to the front of the house with Leandre not far behind him to wait to be let in and start stealing the cannabis.

"I heard smashing or the sound of a smash while I was still waiting by the front, seconds later - it all happened really, really fast," he told the jury.

"After the smashing, a few seconds later, I heard Jordan, I didn't see him, I just heard him say, 'go there's someone there, go!'"

They all then left the front garden and went back to their cars - Cyrus asked Dele what happened who said what he had already heard before calling Farquhar to ask why there was someone there.

He said he hung up on his friend as he was so angry, who then called back and asked why Dele had smashed the front window, which Cyrus said he did not know about.

Dele said it was because he was annoyed about what had happened, which sparked an argument with Cyrus, who called him an idiot - but he did not know he had 'an implement' to cause the damage.

Cyrus dropped Dele off in Romford before going back to his cousin's home in Leyton where he was staying, and had a 35 minute phone call with his girlfriend at 4am as he was so annoyed.

Farquhar then called him and told him Parker had a knife with blood on it but he didn't know who's blood it was or what happened, which he also did not know about.

"After hearing about the knife I went crazy and said, 'Don't you ever phone me again,' and went back on to the call with my girlfriend," Cyrus said.

He then called his manager to say he would not coming to work that day as he 'just really wasn't in the mood' after what happened in Raeburn Road and hearing about the knife.

At around midday, Cyrus said he went to visit his friend who lived near Parker and he saw his co-defendant in his flat window so he gestured at him to come down.

Parker came down 'looking distraught' as he was shaking, smoking and did not seem like himself and told Cyrus he had killed the occupant of Raeburn Road.

Cyrus said: "He said, 'Look, somebody was in the house and I stabbed and killed him.' My head just started spinning, literally started spinning.

"I started shouting and swearing at Jordan and I remember saying, 'no, no, no, I don't want to hear none of this, don't ever call again in your life,' and I started returning to my car.

"As I was walking off, I remember him saying, 'Don't worry, I'm not going to let anybody go down for this.'"

Cyrus then smashed his phone 'because I didn't want to be implicated in a murder I did not commit, contribute to or witness'.

Mr House took exception to several elements of Cyrus' story, including why he did not rush to get to Northampton, where he parked and why he thought the house was empty.

The prosecutor also questioned how he did not know Dele had a crowbar in his bag, or why he had not mentioned Dele before appearing in court yesterday.

Mr House accused Cyrus of smashing the front window and changing his story so he did not have a weapon in his hand, which the defendant denied.

The representative for the Crown Prosecution Service also suggested the group made a detour to Dunstable on their way back to London to dispose of their weapons.

But Cyrus denied that too, saying he just followed his satnav and did not remember going through the town.

The trial continues.