A MAN accused of stabbing a Westcliff dad to death would have attempted to cover his tracks if he had commited murder, a murder trial heard.

Jane Humphreys, defending, said her client Bradley Johnson did not try to hide his indentity after Steven Woodhouse, 30, of Park Road, was stabbed in the heart.

Johnson, 47, of Penn Road, Slough, and Paul Sultana, 45, of Green Lane, Ilford, who is also accused of robbery, are said to have ambushed Mr Woodhouse at his scrapyard to rob him of drugs.

A scuffle is alleged to have broken out.

Miss Humphreys said: “Mr Johnson went back to his car, kept his mobile phone, and pointed it out to police. There was no covering of his face. Mr Sultana got rid of his jacket because it had been damaged, but Mr Johnson didn’t get rid of his jacket even though his had blood on it."

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Johnson had picked Sultana up in his Volkswagen Golf on June 2 and drove to Westcliff, passing Mr Woodhouse’s home in Park Road. It is claimed they stopped in Park Lane, got out of the car, waited for their victim to be alone, then murdered him and stole the cannabis plants.

The trial continues