A teenager who showed an armed gang the home of a man killed by gunfire told a court he initially feared the murder was his fault.
The boy said he and his friend - who both claim they were kidnapped - felt they had no choice other than to identify the address of Stephen Maguire.
He said they had already been driven to his Southport street when the group demanded to know where "their orange crosser" was.
The teen told Liverpool Crown Court they then highlighted the 27-year-old's Guildford Road house after his friend said: “We’re not dying over a motorbike.”
He told police he found out Mr Maguire had been shot dead the following day and worried he and his friend, neither of whom can be identified by the ECHO, were at fault.
Asked why he thought this, he told a jury: “Because... we showed them. That’s why we thought it was our fault, because we showed them where he lived.”
His comments came during a day in which he was questioned by barristers representing Karl Corson, Ryan Smith, Jack Higgins and Patrick Moogan.
All four men deny the murder of Mr Maguire on March 16 of this year.
They also deny a series of other offences that include the kidnapping of the two teenagers on the same night Mr Maguire was shot.
Both teens have told the court they were ordered to get into a Mercedes and felt they had no option because those inside had a gun.
The murder trial was today told the youngest of the two alleged kidnap victims had fallen out with Mr Maguire before his death.
Giving evidence via video link, the witness was quizzed over his relationship with Mr Maguire by Nigel Power, QC, defending Higgins.
The boy said he "dropped" weed off for him, explaining: “He never gave me no drugs to sell, I would go on drops for him.”
The court heard the pair had fallen out over drugs in 2019 but the witness did not reveal this to Merseyside Police when he was interviewed about the night of the murder because: “I didn’t think I needed to tell police that I fell out with him.”
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Asked about Mr Maguire’s connection to stolen vehicles, the witness told the jury: “He would get stolen bikes… has had stolen cars in the past. He knows a few people from all over who can get them stolen.”
When the men in the Mercedes questioned the teens about the location of an orange KTM bike, the boy said he believed they meant a bike he had seen Mr Maguire riding in the Birkdale area.
Mr Power questioned whether the men had referred to the bike as being theirs after telling the court a bank transfer in September 2019 appeared to show Mr Maguire had bought the bike legitimately.
But the witness insisted the men asked: “Where’s our orange crosser?”
Counsel for each of the defendants suggested the witness and his friend were not kidnapped but had agreed to work with the men in the Mercedes and had identified Mr Maguire as someone the gang could target.
The witness repeated this was not the case and asked Mr Power: “What would I gain from robbing someone from the area I live with four people I don’t know? Why would I do that? Tell me.”
Mr Power highlighted the witness had fallen out with Mr Maguire, prompting the boy to respond: “So what... that’s not how I work mate. You might work different, but that’s not how I work.”
*Moogan, 35, of Willow Way, Croxteth; Corson, 28, of Columbine Close, Melling; Higgins, 22, of Sedgemoor Road, Norris Green; and Smith, 21, of Colquitt Street, Liverpool city centre each deny charges of murder, two counts of kidnap, robbery, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition without a certificate.
Proceeding
