A DOG walker heard a woman scream shortly after seeing two men and a blue Ford Capri near land known as ‘the black pad’, the Nicola Payne murder trial heard.
Patrick Carter, formerly of Woodway Walk, said he left his house at about 12.15pm on December 14, 1991, and followed his usual dog walking route along Winston Avenue, Coventry to the black pad.
Reading from a previous statement to police while giving evidence last Friday (October 16), Mr Carter said he saw a man standing in bushes by a tree about five yards away from him.
He added he could not tell if it was a man or woman, but described them as nearly 6ft tall and wearing a brown leather jacket.
Mr Carter said when the person saw him they moved behind a tree.
He added he could hear a revving noise coming from a car which appeared to be coming from behind the bush.
The court heard when he went around the bush onto the road he saw a metallic blue Ford Capri.
Mr Carter said a man stood next to the back corner of the car, parked in the lane leading away from the recreation ground.
He added: “I believe it was a second man to the one I saw the first time.”
He described him as white, about 6ft 3ins with hair parted on the right-hand side, and wearing a brown leather jacket and pale blue jeans.
Mr Carter said the man summoned his dog and knelt down, while he continued to walk past the car which was around a 1980 registration plate.
The court heard the car had larger than standard wheels which appeared to be chrome although were quite dirty. It had a back spoiler which looked ‘a bit tacky’, and there was a chrome exhaust.
“As I walked past the car a few feet I heard a female scream. It lasted a short period of time, not very long,” he said.
“It wasn’t excessively loud and seemed to be muffled and came from the direction of the bushes I had just walked past.
“By the time I looked back the person had gone – the car was still there.”
Mr Carter said he stopped and waited, looking at the bushes for four or five minutes before he began to head towards the fields and Potters Green Road.
“I went back to see if the car was still there to get the registration number,” he added.
“But when I got back to the lane where the Capri was it had gone.”
Mr Carter said he got back home about 12.45pm and did not hear someone was missing until the Sunday afternoon. He made a statement to the police about 7pm that day.
He added when he arrived at the police station in Coventry he noticed a pale blue metallic Ford Capri in the car park.
“It was very similar in colour to the Capri I had seen on the previous day.” Mr Carter said.
Nigel Barwell, aged 51, from Copperas Street, and Thomas O’Reilly, 51, of Ribble Road, both Coventry, deny murdering Nicola, who went missing on the same day, December 14, 1991.
The trial continues.
