Man accused of brutal murder of dad-of-two removed from dock after shouting out in court

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A man accused of murdering a father-of-two who was shot and attacked with acid has been removed from court after interrupting the judge's summing up.The jury in the trial of Michael Hillier and Rachel Fulstow, both accused of the murder of Liam Smith, 38, in Wigan, Greater Manchester, in November last year, have retired to consider their verdicts shortly before 1pm today (Tuesday, August 22).Minshull Street Crown Court has heard Mr Smith, an electrician, went on a date with Ms Fulstow, 37, in 2019. Join our FREE Manchester Crime and Court WhatsApp group by clicking here Hillier, 39, who has admitted manslaughter but denies murder, claims they plotted together to attack Mr Smith after Ms Fulstow, who he was in a relationship with, told him she had been raped by Mr Smith.

Summing up the case on Tuesday morning, Judge Maurice Greene reminded the jury of Ms Fulstow's evidence about sex with Mr Smith, after she had previously told the jury it was 'un-consensual' but that she did not consider it to be 'rape'.

Speaking from the dock, Hillier said: "It's not sex, it's rape. What sort of message does that send out? Sex is consensual, rape isn't." He was removed from the dock by security officers.

Before the jury was sent out to consider its verdict, Louise Blackwell KC, defending Hillier, said he apologised. Judge Greene replied: "Emotions run high, as I've already mentioned." Earlier, he told the five men and five women on the jury they did "not really need to decide" what happened when Mr Smith met Ms Fulstow.