A WITNESS whose refusal to give vital evidence led to the collapse of a manslaughter trial has been jailed for 18 months for committing perjury.

Shaun Dunn was called as a prosecution witness at the trial of teenager Jimmy Williams after making a statement saying he saw a punch that led to the death of Graham Wales.

But when he went into the witness box at Maidstone Crown Court he claimed he could not remember what happened and said he did not see the fatal blow.

Dunn, 36, eventually confessed to police that he did witness the attack but said he was terrified of what would happen to him or his family if his evidence led to a conviction.

Mr Williams, of Ringden Avenue, Tonbridge, denied killing Mr Wales in the car park of the Bird in Hand public house in Coxheath on July 28 2004.

Peter Alcock, prosecuting, said Dunn, of Chestnut Drive, Coxheath, near Maidstone, was a key eye witness at the trial early last year.

In the third of three statements to police, he named Mr Williams as the attacker and said he saw the punch that led to Mr Wales’s death from a brain haemorrhage.

"The first statement said he did not see much of the incident," said Mr Alcock. "The second said effectively the same type of thing, but the third statement provided a full account on which the Crown sought to rely. It gave a full account of what he had seen."

The trial started in Dunn’s absence after he failed to appear to give evidence.

A warrant was issued and he was arrested. He went into the witness box, but claimed he could not remember what had happened, despite being allowed to refer to his statement.

He was then treated as a hostile witness, enabling Alan Kent, prosecuting, to cross-examine him.

"He said the reason he had made the full statement was that he felt under pressure and had been intimidated by the police," said Mr Alcock.

"He said his first statement was the truest one of the lot, although he said he could remember very little."

Mr Kent was forced to offer no further evidence and Mr Williams, then 18, was acquitted of manslaughter.

When interviewed by police, Dunn admitted he had seen the blow struck in the car park. He agreed that his third statement was true and he had lied on oath.

Judge Andrew Patience, QC, said Dunn’s refusal to give evidence resulted in Mr Williams escaping responsibility for an allegation that he might otherwise have been found guilty of.

"I accept that you were faced with a moral dilemma," he said. "I accept also that when the contents of that statement became known you were subjected to some intimidatory behaviour and feared not so much for yourself, as for your parents.

"It was a lack of courage which persuaded you to tell lies. At least in your interview you accepted entirely what you had done. I accept that you are remorseful and that the stress of waiting for this case will have been great."

But Judge Patience said an immediate prison sentence was inevitable.

"Anyone who deliberately tells lies in evidence, especially where a serious offence is being tried, must expect a severe custodial sentence, not only to punish the offender, but to give the clearest possible warning to others," he added.