A JURY at Leeds Crown Court was deciding the fate of a Skipton man accused of murder as the Herald went to press yesterday (Thursday).

William Kerr, 36, of Rombalds Drive, has denied being involved in the murder of 43-year-old Maureen Comfort, who was found strangled in a cupboard at her flat in Cromwell Heights, Mabgate, Leeds.

His co-accused Christopher Moody, 25, formerly of Croft House Grove, Morley, has also denied murder.

Summing up The Recorder of Leeds said Mrs Comfort was last seen drinking at her regular haunts on December 4 1995. Her body was subsequently found strangled in a bedroom cupboard on January 8.

The prosecution claimed she was probably killed on around December 4 or 5, saying that was the last time any "reliable" witness saw Mrs Comfort alive.

Kerr had met Mrs Comfort in Leeds and she asked him to stay at her flat, but the defendant denied there was anything sexual between them.

However, the jury had heard from one witness that she believed Mrs Comfort had wanted something more than just a "landlady and lodger relationship".

Mrs Comfort was said to have been annoyed when Kerr took up with another woman Terrina Morrison and spent three nights with her from December 1 to 3 at her flat.

Kerr had told the jury that on December 4 he had hitched to Orpington, Kent, where he was seen by several witnesses.

The defendant also said that fingerprints found on the cupboard could have been left when he was looking for clothing and that blood stains found in the flat were from a cut to his hand.

The prosecution claimed Kerr had a key and therefore access to Mrs Comfort's flat at all times

Counsel Graham Hyland QC, representing Kerr, called several witnesses throughout the trial who testified that Mrs Comfort, described as a woman who liked to drink a lot, had been seen around the city centre after December 5.

Evidence was also heard that many different men would visit Mrs Comfort's flat.

The recorder said: "The defence would say this crime could have been committed by such a visitor and not neccessarily by one of these defendants."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.