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Folkestone murder trial hears Shane Myles admit he stamped on victim Paul Wakefield's head as he lay dying and stole his bank card

13:32, 27 July 2022

updated: 15:42, 27 July 2022

A killer has told how he stamped on the head of a man he called dad as he lay dying.

Shane Myles - who denies murder - said he had gone to the Folkestone home of 66-year-old Paul Wakefield.

Paul Wakefield died in hospital after being stabbed at his home in Coolinge Lane, Folkestone. Picture: Facebook
Paul Wakefield died in hospital after being stabbed at his home in Coolinge Lane, Folkestone. Picture: Facebook

His ex-lover Kayleigh Halliday, of Crown Road, Sittingbourne, has confessed to murder but Myles told the jury: "I still love her. I always wanted to take care of her. "

The 31-year-old father said he had been released from prison just a couple of days earlier and went to see Mr Wakefield to apologise for stealing his TV.

Myles claimed the victim kissed him on his cheek and he kissed him in return as they drank vodka and cider before Halliday began dancing, accidentally knocking over a TV.

The jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard how Mr Wakefield then ordered her to leave the flat at Spencer House in Coolidge Lane.

Maidstone Crown Court. Stock picture
Maidstone Crown Court. Stock picture

It was then that Myles' ex-lover Halliday, 36, shouted "dirty nonce" three times during the violent outburst in January.

But an angry Myles - whose son had been taken into care - said he did not believe the allegations but was caught up in the moment.

He told how he watched Halliday pick up the jagged bottle neck, lifted up her victim's shirt and stabbed him in the stomach.

"I shouted: 'No' but she did it. Then she said to me: 'I think we've killed him'. I was panicking and then she said we should run away to Blackpool and I just wanted to get out.

"She told me to wait while she washed her hands with bleach. I then took Paul's bank card for which I feel ashamed and I am very ashamed of stamping on his head."

The jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard how Mr Wakefield had ordered Halliday to leave the flat at Spencer House in Coolidge Lane
The jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard how Mr Wakefield had ordered Halliday to leave the flat at Spencer House in Coolidge Lane

He added: "I was angry because of what she was doing, hurting Paul and hitting him and I got angry because I was thinking about my son."

Myles was asked: "Did you ever think Paul had done anything to your son?"

He replied: "No...never."

The two left 15 minutes later and went to Folkestone railway station, walking along Audley Road where a passer-by later found a wallet and a phone belonging to the victim.

Both were later pictured laughing, kissing and holding hands on their way to the home of a friend where they were later arrested nearby.

"I was angry because of what she was doing, hurting Paul and hitting him and I got angry because I was thinking about my son..."

He said on the train journey he told his former lover that he would take the blame for the stabbing.

Myles had met Mr Wakefield in Folkestone near a Lidl store after being introduced to him by Halliday.

"He was really good to us. He would call me his son and Kayleigh his daughter. He was a good friend. He was funny.

"While I was in prison, He bought my son a buggy, things for the flat, a coffee table and a settee.

"I became suspicious about why he was buying this stuff. I suspected she was having an affair with him. I don't know if it was ever true.

Read more from the trial here:

"I was reassured that nothing like that was going on, " he added.

Giving evidence with the support of an intermediary, Myles told the jury that he grew up lonely and feeling unwanted after his parents split up.

He added:"I was eventually expelled from school and was introduced to cannabis, which I paid for with pocket money.

"I would take cannabis every day because I like the feeling it gave me...relaxed, chilled out.

"I started getting into trouble and ran away from my home in Maidstone and would stay in cars. "

"I would take cannabis every day because I like the feeling it gave me...relaxed, chilled out..."

He said he has become estranged from his family and none of his family has attended the court or visited him in prison, while he was on remand.

"Eventually I got a job at a meat stall in Sheerness where they paid me in bacon."

He told the jury how he met Halliday when he was 18-years-old in Sheerness. She was in a relationship with another man at the time.

"I went to prison and when I came out she had a child. I wanted to make sure she was looked after."

Myles added that Halliday would often drink cider everyday and her behaviour would become erratic and confrontational.

Mr Wakefield was stabbed in his home Coolinge Lane, Folkestone. Picture: Google Street View
Mr Wakefield was stabbed in his home Coolinge Lane, Folkestone. Picture: Google Street View

Sometime between 2014-15 the two started a relationship when he was living with his sister in Sheerness and they had a child in January 2016 - although he wasn't there for the birth because he was in prison.

He said he was then told the child was taken into care and began self-harming "about 100 times"

Myles said Halliday "didn't remain faithful" and the relationship ended when he was sent back to prison.

He said he was sometimes called a nickname about the notorious gangsters in the 60s, the Kray twins.

Myles, of Rock Avenue, Gillingham, ended his evidence in chief with a dramatic outburst in the dock - shouting: "No more. I am not doing this anymore."

A member of the security staff asked him to calm down and he replied: "I am calm" before accusing people of laughing.

Myles told Judge Philip Statman: "I'm going back to prison. I'm not coming back."

He was then led to the cells after the public gallery was cleared. The case was then adjourned.

Myles has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but as denied murder.

The trial continues.

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