Man denies stealing £2 from 16-year-old boy in Shrewsbury
A man has denied being involved in stealing £2 from a 16-year-old boy and trying to take his bike.
John Douglas Murray, 32, is being tried at Shrewsbury Crown Court for robbery.
He is charged with robbing a teenager on January 14 and taking the money from him.
A second man, Darren Harris, who was accused of carrying out the robbery with Murray, had admitted the charge at an earlier court hearing on June 30.
Murray, now of Grove Court, Wem, had been living at a shelter in Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury at the time of the robbery.
He said: "I'm not from Shrewsbury. I met Darren at the hostel and he was showing me the way around. We were walking back to the hostel and Darren spotted the boy on the bike and said 'gimme your bike'. I just stayed back. I never said or done anything. I had to stay with Darren because I didn't know the way back to the hostel."
Miss Rebecca Wade, prosecuting, told the jury that the victim had picked out Murray in a line up as having been there and as having also demanded that the boy hand over his bike.
She said the boy offered the men £2 - all the money he had - if they would leave him alone.
The jury spent 30 minutes deliberating a verdict yesterday and is due to resume this morning.
