Fugitive accused of murdering dog walker 'planted her phone miles away to fool detectives' who arrested wrong man, court told

Daily Mail​

a day ago

A 'cunning' fugitive convict battered a dog walker to death before tricking police into arresting an innocent man by leaving his victim's phone in a public place, a court heard today.
Roy Barclay, 56, allegedly took the phone off mother-of-six Anita Rose, 57, along with her distinctive pink jacket, after he attacked her and left her for dead as she walked her dog early one morning.
He later read a media report on his own phone saying how Ms Rose's missing mobile and jacket were 'key' to the police investigation, jurors heard.
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC told the jury how the report was 'a signal to Roy Barclay that he had to get rid of the phone'.
The defendant, who had been living 'off-grid' for two years to avoid recall to prison for a previous offence, decided to dump it to 'set a false trail for the police, throwing them off his scent'.
Barclay was filmed by a CCTV camera three days after the attack on Ms Rose as he walked towards 'a small seating area' in Ipswich town centre with a rucksack on his back and a carrier bag in his left hand, said Mr Paxton.
He was seen crossing the road towards the seating area in Upper Orwell Street and then walking back 'after a short while' with images showing he no longer had the bag, Ipswich Crown Court hard.
Several minutes later, a couple named in court as Mr Ichim and Miss Baiculescu entered the same seating area, while CCTV showed Barclay seeming to 'hang around walking up and down'.
Mr Paxton told the jury: 'He was looking into the seating area. We say he is checking if someone has picked up Anita's phone and making sure his phone drop has been successful.'
Mr Ichim and Miss Baiculescu were seen on CCTV emerging from the area a few minutes later and appeared to pass the phone 'from one to the other' as they walked away and turned it on.
Mr Paxton said: 'The police were alerted to Anita's phone being switched on for the first time since the morning of the attack and, as soon as it was, numerous police officers flooded the area.'
The 'unsuspecting' couple were found in the nearby iMobile phone and vape shop where they had paid for it to be factory reset as they were 'looking to sell it', he added.
Mr Ichim was arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of Ms Rose - who died in hospital the following day - and treated as a suspect before being released without charge.
Mr Paxton described the dumping of the phone as an example of 'Barclay's cunning and his attempts to distort and throw the police off his track.'
He told the jury: 'In some ways, it was clever as he must be to have evaded recall to prison for over two years.'
Ms Rose died from her traumatic head injuries in Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on July 28, four days after the attack.
Barclay who has a white beard, thinning hair and glasses was wearing a grey tracksuit as he sat impassively in the glass-fronted dock flanked by three security guards. He denies the murder of Ms Rose.
Jurors heard how he had been living rough in the countryside while he was 'unlawfully at large' and trying to evade police and authorities because he was wanted for recall to prison.
The court was told how Ms Rose had left her home in Brantham shortly after 5am to walk her Springer Spaniel called Bruce as she usually did on a network of nearby footpaths.
She was subjected to a 'vicious and brutal attack' with 'numerous, kicks, stamps and blows' to her face, head and body as she walked beside a sewage works in the village.
Mr Paxton suggested that Barclay, who had a makeshift camp nearby, was drawn to the sewage works to use a toilet and wash basin on the site and might have been seen entering or leaving by Ms Rose.
The fatal assault could have been because he feared she might report him or as a reaction to something she might have said, he added.
Ms Rose was found unconscious with her dog's lead wrapped tightly around her leg at around 6.25am by Jerome Tassel who had been cycling to Manningtree railway station.
Mr Paxton suggested that Barclay was a dog lover who often carried around dog biscuits and might have tied the lead around her to avoid her pet running away.
The court has heard that Ms Rose's pink jacket was eventually found in Barclay's nearby camp with his semen around the neckline, suggesting he had kept it as a 'trophy'
Mr Paxton said that a pair of walking boots 'which amounted to a murder weapon' were also found at the camp.
A forensic scientist found 'support for the conclusion' that the marks on Ms Rose's face were made by the boots which Barclay had earlier bought from Amazon and had delivered to a locker near a Premier Inn in Ipswich, he added.
Her Samsung earbuds, carrying DNA from her and Barclay, were found in box with his possessions in a second hideaway the defendant allegedly used near the Orwell Bridge in Ipswich.
Jurors have heard that a CCTV camera on a house filmed Barclay near the scene on July 21 and at 5.33am on the morning of July 24, less than an hour before Ms Rose was found seriously injured.
He has denied being the man on the CCTV but a facial recognition expert had concluded that it was him, Mr Paxton said. A blue sweatshirt matching the one worn by the man in the images was also found at Barclay's camp.
The prosecution has also claimed internet searches by Barclay showed his interest in the sewage works at Brantham.
He also made a search three days after the attack on Ms Rose, asking 'How long does DNA last at a crime scene?'. The following day he asked in a search: 'How are outside objects swabbed for DNA?', and 'Can barbed wire be swabbed for DNA?'.
Mr Paxton said the searches were 'important 'as Ms Rose was found just feet away from the barbed wire fence at the sewage works which had been cut.
Barclay also made further internet searches about the attack in the months after her death so he could 'follow the twists and turns of the police investigation on media websites', he said.
The court heard today that he had made more searches to find out how long DNA remained in samples of faeces, suggesting that he might have used the toilet in the sewage works and was worried about having left evidence there.
Other searches done by him related to other local killers including the case of a dog walker murdered in Norfolk.
The trial continues.