The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering an Iraq War veteran by punching him in a street attack have retired to consider their verdict.
Gregory Twigg, 32, denies intending to cause Lee Woodward, 39, serious injuries when he punched him three times in Trade Street, Stoke-on-Trent, on the night of June 24 2022.
Medically-retired British Army veteran Mr Woodward was left brain damaged in the attack and never recovered from his injuries, dying in hospital from complications 10 months later on April 26 2023.
The defendant, who was jailed for eight years and three months in September 2022 after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent for the attack on Mr Woodward, is now on trial at Stafford Crown Court accused of his murder.
Twigg, previously of Blurton in Stoke-on-Trent, gave evidence on Wednesday and denied claims from prosecution counsel David Mason KC that he was “fired up on drink and coke and raging” when he punched Mr Woodward, saying he only intended to give him a black eye.
He told the jury of seven women and five men that Mr Woodward had sworn at and threatened them as the car he was a passenger in drove past him in Hill Street so his friend Nathan Lockley pulled the car over and a confrontation ensued.
CCTV of the lead-up and the attack itself was played to the jury, showing Mr Woodward leaving The Liquor Vaults pub in Trade Street at around 11pm before his fiance and walking down towards Hill Street with a man who has not been identified, where he first encountered the car in which Twigg was a backseat passenger.
The first punch by Twigg knocked Mr Woodward to the ground, with Ms Griffin helping her partner to his feet before the second knocked him into a parked car and the third left him unconscious in the road and he never recovered.
Mr Mason told the court Twigg’s punches were “powerful and cowardly” and that he had intended to “flatten Lee so he would never get up”.
After getting back into the vehicle and leaving the scene, Twigg was arrested in Newcastle-upon-Lyme, where he had been heading for a night out, around 50 minutes later.
In his closing speech to jury before they retired, Mr Mason said: “At any stage, does Lee Woodward look like a threat to anyone?
“This man was determined to flatten Lee so he would never get up. He may have been drunk, he was on cocaine, that may have made him more aggressive. He accepted he was a bit angry – but he was raging wasn’t he?”
He added: “He was determined in his agitated, angry, bouncy state, to really hurt Lee Woodward.
“You saw how angry Mr Twigg was and he wasn’t going to stop until he was done, was he?
“Even after he had rendered Lee Woodward unconscious for the remainder of his life, he punches Kate Griffin. He said it was a push, not a punch – you decide, ladies and gentlemen.
“He was raging, we suggest he was unstoppable. Of course, now Lee has died, he is trying to wriggle out of a murder charge. He knows his guilty plea to grievous bodily harm with intent makes him guilty of murder.
“Now he is trying to persuade you he only meant to give him a black eye.
“He may feel bad about it now, but I suggest perhaps the person he is feeling most sorry for is himself because he knows he is guilty of murder.”
Ahmed Hossain KC, defending Twigg, urged the jury to put their emotions aside and look at the evidence in a “clinical” way.
He said: “It would be surprising if you didn’t feel emotions such as anger and revulsion. We ask you to put emotions to the side, which is not easy, but experience shows that when you are deciding the facts, emotions don’t help.
“I am not asking you to like Gregory Twigg and I’m certainly not asking you for any sympathy towards Gregory Twigg in his current predicament.
“Ask yourself in a really clinical way if Gregory Twigg intended to cause really serious harm. Mr Twigg is guilty of manslaughter.
“He accepts he unlawfully punched Mr Woodward, he accepts that his punches caused Mr Woodward to fall over, banging his head, and subsequently he very sadly died.
“The issue is intention.”
Mother of girl stabbed 33 times in Southport attack says victims 'deserve apology'
Government urges Fujitsu to pay compensation to victims of Post Office scandal
Police officer denies he ‘lost control’ in aftermath of alleged airport assault
Man accused of murdering Iraq War veteran ‘just wanted to give him a black eye’
