A sobbing wife told a murder trial jury how she heard her husband cry out in pain as he was beaten by intruders in their bedroom.
Donna Selby described how she hid between the bed and a wall as her husband Barry tried to prevent his attackers getting into the bedroom.
She said the bedroom door was pushed open and she heard her husband shout: “Get out, you b******s,” and then heard him being beaten up.
Mrs Selby told the jury at Bradford Crown Court yesterday: “He was crying out in pain.”
Four men are accused of 50-year-old Mr Selby’s murder. Lee Calvert, 23, of Stirling Crescent, Holme Wood; Joseph Lowther, 22, of Copgrove Road, Holme Wood; Robert Woodhead, 28, of Fred’s Place, Tyersal; and Andrew Feather, 23, of Heysham Drive, Holme Wood, all plead not guilty. They also deny two firearms charges.
Calvert’s girlfriend, Natasha Wall, 24, of Stirling Crescent, pleads not guilty to perverting the course of justice, by lying about her boyfriend’s whereabouts.
The prosecution alleges Mr Selby was shot in the legs and had sulphuric acid poured over his body, causing his vital organs to fail, in a revenge attack at his home in Rayleigh Street, East Bowling, Bradford, just after 2am on October 14 last year. He died in hospital four days later.
The attack is said to have followed a number of violent incidents on the Holme Wood estate involving two groups of young men. One of the groups included Mr Selby’s son, Liam. Lee Calvert was a member of the other group, it is claimed.
Mrs Selby, who gave her evidence from behind screens, said she was woken by a loud bang from the front door and heard people coming up the stairs.
“I jumped out of bed and crouched at the side of the bed,” she said. “My husband jumped out of bed to hold the door shut. They pushed the door open.”
She said after her husband had cried out, it all went quiet and she raised her head to look around the bedroom. She said her husband was lying on the floor and one of the intruders was standing over him. Mrs Selby said the man was Lee Calvert.
She told the court she was a bed’s width away from the intruder and light was shining into the bedroom from the landing. She said she knew Calvert from a photograph her daughter had shown her and had seen him previously.
Questioned by Calvert’s barrister, Alistair Webster QC, Mrs Selby said the defendant had got “evil eyes”.
She admitted that she did not hear any shots because it was frightening and confusing and she agreed she had seen the person for one or two seconds, when his face was completely covered apart from the eyes, the light was coming from behind him and she was distressed and terrified.
But she said she was sure it was Calvert.
The trial continues.
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