THREE people accused of murdering a father who was beaten to death in the street are lying about what happened to protect each other, a court heard.
Father-of-two Steven Herbert died from a brain injury after he was attacked at the junction of Trafalgar Street and Beverley Road, in Hull, at about 6am on New Year's Day.
Tiffany Clark, 23, Samuel Jordan, 22, and Soul Humphries, 22, deny his murder.
Mr Humphries and Mr Jordan both gave evidence in their defence at Hull Crown Court yesterday and were accused of lying by prosecutor Andrew Robertson QC.
Mr Humphries, of Rawcliffe Grove, west Hull, admitted kicking Mr Herbert in the leg and punching him once to the side of the face before running off.
Mr Jordan, of Yarmouth Avenue, west Hull, admitted "wrestling" with Mr Herbert in a bid to pull him away from Mr Humphries, but denied punching him or trying to punch him.
Mr Humphries accepted his punch had knocked Mr Herbert to the ground, but said he did not see him fall.
The court had earlier heard witnesses say they saw Miss Clark kick Mr Herbert once or twice in the head after he was unconscious on the ground.
Neither Mr Humphries nor Mr Jordan could explain how Mr Herbert came by the 12 separate injuries to his head, face and neck, which Mr Robertson said showed their accounts were false.
Cross-examining Mr Humphries, Mr Robertson said: "The fact of the matter is that before you struck the final blow that knocked Mr Herbert to the ground, both you and Mr Jordan were delivering a number of blows weren't you?"
"That's untrue," Mr Humphries replied.
"And that explains, does it not, what you see in the images (of the injuries) – the pair of you were laying into his face and head," Mr Robertson said.
"That's not true," Mr Humphries replied.
Mr Robertson said: "But you've no other explanation. The explanation is you're lying.
"Regretting what you've done but lying to save your own skin."
"I'm not lying, I'm not a liar," Mr Humphries said.
William Harbage QC, for Mr Humphries, asked him: "When you punched him, did you intend to kill him?"
"No," he replied.
"Did you intend to cause him GBH, really serious bodily harm?"
"No," he replied.
"Did you intended to hurt him at all?" Mr Harbage asked.
"No," said Mr Humphries.
Towards the end of his evidence, Mr Humphries said: "It's easy to put on a brave face, but deep, deep down I'm hurting.
"I'm hurting as much as anybody else is. I'm not a murderer.
"I had no intentions of murdering this man, I had no intention of killing him."
Mr Robertson said: "You're hurting as much as anybody else in this case."
"Yeah, I am", said Mr Humphries.
Mr Robertson said: "If you are, it's totally your own fault for what you did that night Mr Humphries, isn't it?"
"It's not, it's not," he said.
After running from the scene, Mr Humphries and Mr Jordan shared a taxi to Miss Clark's home in Victor Street, east Hull, with Miss Clark and prosecution witness Lauren Brown.
Mr Humphries and Mr Jordan said the incident was not discussed in the taxi, nor at Miss Clark's house.
Asked why he had not discussed it in the taxi, Mr Humphries said: "Everything had happened so quickly.
"I was in the back of the taxi thinking 'wow'. I had nothing to say."
Mr Jordan was asked by Mr Robertson why he ran off, and said: "I didn't want any more trouble.
"It was already out of my control. I did my best to make it better but it didn't get any better."
Mr Jordan said he would not have left the scene if he had thought Mr Herbert was seriously hurt.
Mr Jordan had given "no comment" answers in police interviews after taking legal advice, but made a number of comments in a police car after being arrested and at the police station, which he did not realise were being recorded.
At the police station, he said: "I'd just like to say now, yeah, see, see that guy I've not hit him once, yeah.
"And he was the one that took his jumper off."
Mr Robertson said: "Why on earth would you allege that Mr Herbert had taken his jumper off as soon as you arrived at the police station?"
Mr Jordan said: "I've no idea why I said that, I can't remember saying it."
Mr Robertson said: "You were trying to make it look as if Mr Herbert was taking his jumper off in order to fight with you."
Mr Jordan said he did not see Miss Clark kick Mr Herbert in the head.
Mr Robertson said: "You are lying to protect her and Humphries in the hope they will protect you on this murder charge."
"I can only speak for myself in this", Mr Jordan said.
The trial continues.
