The trial of a mother charged with helping her son and his friend flee the scene of a murder has restarted today with a new jury.
Georgia Potter, aged 51 of Meadowbank, Mylor Bridge, has been charged with assisting an offender, and that 'between May 3, 2020 and May 9, 2020, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, she facilitated transport to move Liam Bastow and Kane Coggin, and their clothing, away from a crime scene, and gave false statements to the police in relation to the movements Liam Bastow and Kane Coggin with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of Liam Bastow and Kane Coggin, persons who had committed the arrestable offence of murder, knowing or believing the said persons to be guilty of the offence or some other relevant offence'.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
It follows the death of Aaron Pill at his home in Tresawle Road, Falmouth, where he was found with stab wounds on May 4 last year that caused him to bleed to death.
Potter's son, Kane Coggin, and his friend Liam Bastow were both found guilty of Mr Pill's murder at a trial ending in December last year.
The trial into Potter's alleged actions on that evening began on Monday, but yesterday the initial jury had to be discharged after one of the members was recognised.
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The trial restarted today (Wednesday) with an entirely new jury, who heard the opening statements for the prosecution, followed by the testimony and cross examination of DC Michelle Pitman, of the major crime investigation team with Devon and Cornwall Police.
Sally Daulton, prosecuting, told the jurors that at around 9.45pm on May 4 last year, Potter drove Coggin and Bastow into Falmouth and dropped them off at Falmouth Marina, which was described as "a short walk from Tresawle Road and the home of Aaron Pill".
A CCTV camera on Mr Pill's doorbell captured the pair entering the house at 9.55pm and they were in there for a few minutes before leaving, with Mr Pill bleeding profusely.
According to Ms Daulton, over the course of that evening Potter was involved in a series of phone calls, in which it was arranged that Coggin and Bastow would be picked up by Potter from Falmouth.
She then drove through a series of residential roads to return to Mylor Bridge, but Ms Daulton said traffic cameras showed Potter did not stay at Mylor Bridge after this, instead turning around again, heading back into Falmouth for a third time that night – this time with only Coggin in the car, having dropped Bastow off.
Coggin was said to have then jumped out the car and run up Old Hill Crescent, with Potter driving in a loop before picking him back up.
Ms Daulton said that in Potter's first interview with police she failed to mention that she had given her son a lift back with Bristow - but Mark Dacey, defending, said that the information given by police upon her arrest, which Potter was responding to, initially only mentioned Bristow.
Mr Dacey told the court: "What took place that night is not disputed.
"But to make it crystal clear: at the time of those acts, Miss Potter didn't know or believe that Kane Coggin or Liam Bastow had either murdered Mr Pill or even committed serious harm."
Ms Daulton said that in a subsequent interview Potter told police, in a statement read by her solicitor: "I accept I did travel a third time in my car but this again was entirely innocent."
In the statement read by Ms Daulton to the court, the reason for the journey was not given.
Ms Daulton said Potter claimed that both Coggin and Bastow were in the back seat of the car because a Pot Noodle had been spilled in the front, and as it was dark she did not see them.
The jury was told a forensic examiner found the appearance of staining on the front passenger seat that meant "it is not possible to exclude the possibility of of the presence of a coloured stain on the front seat fabric, and this could have come from a Pot Noodle."
The court also heard no traces of blood have ever been found in the car driven by Potter.
On questioning from Mr Dacey, DC Pitman confirmed that on mobile phone records no direct phone call was found to have been made between Potter and Bastow, or between Potter and her son, on the night of the murder.
During the day's evidence it was heard that two knives were found inside a post box at Old Hill the following day, one of which was identified as the murder weapon, and that a baseball cap seen in CCTV footage to be worn by Bastow inside Mr Pill's house was later found discarded in a lane behind the Dracaena Centre.
Both men were also said to have shaved their heads between the night of the murder and their first interviews with police.
The trial continues.
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