Telford murder trial: Accused swore on his daughter's life he didn't kill woman at flat

Kevin Hyden blamed the drugs he was taking at the time for his poor recollection of where, and when, he was on the day Miss Loynton's body was found in her Wellington flat.

But while being interviewed by officers he insisted: "I'd definitely know if I'd murdered someone."

Kevin Hyden told officers that he had no idea that when he picked up a handbag containing a phone, bank cards, PIN numbers and keys on an area of grass near both his and Miss Loynton's home that it could be linked to a murder, Stafford Crown Court was told yesterday.

In a police interview read to the jury, Hyden said that it was a "coincidence" that the day he decided to stop fraudulently using Miss Loynton's bank cards and smash up her phone because it was broken was the same day that he spotted forensic officers in and around her maisonette on St John's Street in Wellington, prosecutor Miss Deborah Gould said.

Miss Loynton, 59, was found dead rolled up in her living room rug by friends and colleagues after she failed to show up on the Monday morning at the office she had run for 30 years.

Hyden was quizzed by police on September 23 and in six separate interviews denied any involvement in the murder.

But he admitted being in possession of her bank cards and withdrawing money to buy cocaine.

He told officers he found them and the mobile phone in a bag on a grassed area outside the flats.

Before destroying the phone, which was recovered without a sim card, he even sent a fake reply to a worried colleague saying that she was on holiday in Falmouth, the court heard.

The court heard that while his memory of this was not clear, he told officers he must have sent the text to buy more time to use her bank cards.

Hyden told police he found Miss Loynton's brown suede handbag in a field on September 20 last year before he used her bank cards for cash to fuel his drug habit, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Miss Loynton was murdered at her home in St John's Street the same day.

Hyden discarded the keys in a nearby shed and withdrew more than £2,700 from the bank accounts and used the cash to buy hundreds of pounds worth of cocaine, said Miss Deborah Gould, prosecuting.

Miss Loynton's body was found rolled up in her living room rug by friends and colleagues after she failed to show up for work the following Monday.

The prosecution alleges that Hyden, who lived in a flat near to the victim, tortured 59-year-old Miss Loynton in her home to get the Pin numbers for her bank cards, in a bid to get cash to fuel his drug habit, before killing her. He had broken into Miss Loynton's maisonette on another occasion, Miss Deborah Gould, prosecuting, told the jury.

Hyden, 35, of Glebe Street, Wellington, denies a charge of murdering Miss Loynton on September 20 last year.

His partner, Emma Lucas, 39, of Keats Avenue, Stafford, denies perverting the course of justice by providing Hyden with a false alibi.

Transcripts of numerous interviews carried out by police officers with Hyden were read out before the jury yesterday.

On the day Miss Loynton was attacked, Hyden said he had spent the morning with his partner and daughter, Miss Gould said. When asked about his poor memory over timings on that day, he told officers: "I'd definitely know if I'd murdered someone." He said: "On my daughter's life I did not murder that Davinia."

The court heard how Hyden was a regular drug user, he told police during one interview: "I'm sorry I did do a lot of drugs and I'm struggling to remember."

"I was with my partner and daughter and stupidly I found a bag and Emma told me to leave it. I found a phone, two cards and bank numbers on the back of cards. I went and tried them, it was just for more drugs. If I'd known it was related to something as serious as this I wouldn't have looked at it."