Murder suspect 'saw hooded man'

Pierre Williams denies murder and sexual assault

A man suspected of killing a family-of-three in a hammer attack saw a hooded figure leave the murder scene, Manchester Crown Court has heard.

Pierre Williams told the jury he was in the garden of the house in Thelwall Avenue, Fallowfield, when he saw a man quickly walk away from the house.

Mr Williams denies murdering Beverley Samuels, 36, her daughter Kesha Wizzart and son, Fred Wizzart, 13.

He also denies sexually assaulting Mrs Samuels and 18-year-old Kesha.

Love declaration

In his defence, the 33-year-old, from Selly Oak, Birmingham, told the jury he loved Mrs Samuels and her two children and that the way they were beaten repeatedly with a hammer to their heads was "something you would not do to an animal".

Mr Williams, a former boyfriend of Mrs Samuels, told the court that just prior to the fatal attacks she had ordered him out of the house in the early hours of the morning.

Kesha, her mother and her brother suffered catastrophic injuries

He said that the pair had been woken by several loud knocks at the door in the early hours of 12 July and that Mrs Samuels feared there was a man who would kill her if he found her in bed with him.

He told the court that he waited outside in the back garden and that up to an hour later he saw a hooded man rush from the house.

A post-mortem examination revealed that Mrs Samuels, a nurse at Manchester Royal Infirmary, had been raped before being killed with at least seven blows to her head.

Her daughter, Kesha, had also been raped and killed by a series of blows to the head.

The teenager, who had appeared in a junior version of Stars In Their Eyes, was found face down, naked, with a pair of black knickers placed on her head and her arms tied up with her own bra.

Fred died after suffering at least seven blows to his head too.

The trial continues.