'It was a scream for help and a scream of fear and it slowly got muffled. The scream got quieter and then there was nothing' Colleague gives his account at murder trial.

Byline: Gareth Llewellyn 

A DRIVER accused of killing his boss during a four-hour ordeal had a "cold and blank" look on his face, a jury has heard.

Russell Carter was described as being expressionless during the incident last October at an industrial unit in New Inn, Pontypool.

The 52-year-old from Rumney, Cardiff, denies murdering Kingsley Monk and the attempted murder of three other Driverline 247 employees.

A jury heard during the opening on Monday how Carter thought he was owed money by father-of-two Mr Monk and resented being called a "coward" on a phone message after he failed to turn up for work.

Carter used cable ties and rope to bind Mr Monk and colleagues Gethin Heal, Nathan Taylor and Robert Lewis, the court heard.

At Newport Crown Court yesterday, Mr Heal gave his account of that day.

He said he had never met Carter before the incident at the Driverline 247 premises on October 20, although he had spoken to him over the phone.

After opening the front door and walking upstairs to the main office, Mr Heal told how he heard a noise behind him and, when he turned around, he saw Carter with a gun in his hand. He described his demeanour as "blank and cold".

"The gun was in his right hand and he was pointing it at me," said Mr Heal.

"It was a silver and black hand gun.

He had surgical gloves on his hands and a black laptop case in his other hand."

Mr Heal said he was then told by Carter to "do as I tell you or I will kill your ass".

He added: "He also said that it was Kingsley that he wanted and not me."

Mr Heal said his hands were then bound together in front of him with cable ties. Cable ties were also used to tie his ankles together and duct tape was placed over his mouth.

He said he was made to hop into the kitchen area of the premises and into the small toilet where he was told to sit down on the lid.

The jury heard Carter took a mobile phone from Mr Heal's belt.

But when he left the room Mr Heal used another mobile in his pocket to call 999 - only to be overheard.

Mr Heal said Carter grabbed the phone from his pocket and ended the call.

"He told me 'I warned you not to do anything'. I honestly thought he was going to kill me."

The court heard Carter's attention was then diverted by the sound of Mr Taylor and Mr Lewis entering the office and he rushed out to confront them.

"I heard them opening the door and I heard Nathan saying 'Russell, what do you want?' Then I could hear Bob screaming 'It's burning, my eyes are burning!' "I heard Russell saying 'Do as you are told or I will burn you'."

Mr Heal said when Mr Taylor and Mr Lewis were brought to where he was sitting, they were tied with their hands behind their backs. He said he could also smell petrol coming from them.

The court was told Carter was about to tie both men around the feet, when Mr Monk was heard entering the office.

Mr Heal said he heard Mr Monk saying "What do you want Russell?" after being confronted by the defendant.

"Russell was saying something about money," said Mr Heal. "Kingsley said 'I will give you whatever you want, just calm down'.

"Russell was saying 'give me your hands'. I could hear a bit of a scuffle and Kingsley screaming. Words were being screamed and he was shouting 'help me, boys'."

He added: "Russell was saying, 'you owe me money'. I could hear voices and Kingsley screaming for us to help him.

"I saw Bob sit in front of me and saw him break his hands free. He then ran into the office."

The court heard a scuffle ensued which Mr Heal said seemed to go on for "ages" and it went quiet before a loud bang was heard.

Later on, Mr Heal said he could hear thudding noises and some bangs followed by "haunting" screams coming from Mr Monk.

A short while later, Mr Heal said he heard Mr Lewis' voice again, asking Carter to leave Mr Monk alone.

The court heard a another scuffle followed before a loud bang was heard and it went quiet. Mr Monk was then heard screaming again, said Mr Heal.

"There was a scream from Kingsley and it sort of went quiet then. It was terrible. It was a scream without saying words. It was a scream for help and a scream of fear and it slowly got muffled. The scream got quieter and then there was nothing."

Mr Heal said soon afterwards, he heard "crackling and popping noises" and the premises began to fill with smoke.

He said he assumed his work colleagues were all dead at this point as he had not heard anything from them.

Mr Heal then managed to slip off the cable tie around his feet and found Mr Taylor coming to help his colleagues.

The pair fought through the thick smoke in the office and came across Mr Monk who was lying face down on the floor with his hand tied behind his back and his feet tied together.

"I turned him and I hoped he was alive," said Mr Heal. "His face was all distorted and out of shape. I felt him and he was ice cold. His face was blue and I shouted to Nathan that he was dead. I then said I would get help from next door."

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CAPTION(S):

Kingsley Monk was Carter's boss at Driverline 247, based at an industrial unit in New Inn, Pontypool, left Russell Carter denies murder