Paraplegic drug dealer admits killing

Teresa Brooks was found lying injured in a Hull street

A disabled man who set himself up as a drug dealer using a £600,000 compensation payout has pleaded guilty to killing one of his customers.

David Edwards admitted shooting 36-year-old Teresa Brooks with an airgun when she visited his flat in Beverley Road, Hull, on 19 August 2002.

Edwards, 26, had denied murdering Mrs Brooks but admitted manslaughter on the second day of his trial.

Hull Crown Court heard how Edwards became a drug dealer with money he received after a motorbike accident in 1999 which left him unable to walk.

Muscle spasm

He got the £600,000 payout early last year and started running a drug-dealing operation using two other men and his Peugeot 205.

The court heard how Edwards had a high powered air rifle and two air pistols in his flat.

The jury was told that he was known to pepper the walls of his flat with shots from his air rifle as he lay in bed.

After his arrest, Edwards told police he had shot Mrs Brooks in an involuntary muscle spasm.

Police found her lying injured on a street and she was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary where she later died from her injuries.

Edwards will be sentenced on 24 February after reports are carried out into his medical condition.