GUILTY UK - Shana Grice, 19, murdered at her Brighton home, 25 Aug 2016

[Tortoise]

Finally, from this morning. I don't mean this as an insult/indicator of guilt, just an observation, but I really think ML may have some sort of learning difficulties.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/15168642.Lane__I_went_to_Shana_s_to_tell_her_not_to_contact_me_again/

I wondered about that too.

Assuming he did it, his awareness seems to be hit and miss. He changed clothes many times and it seems he wanted to be seen in various places to confuse people, or he would have stayed at home when he got back, and like the men who raided the Hatton Garden vault, wearing a high viz vest is not what you would expect from someone who aims not to be noticed, so it seems he does have some craftiness. Maybe he was trying to make it look as if it was a robbery gone wrong by taking the card and going to the bank. Setting a fire suggests he wanted to get rid of forensic evidence but then he left wipes behind and didn't manage to dispose of his trainers, or even clean them, which should have been quite simple. Then again it seems he managed to dispose of the knife and white t-shirt successfully.

It's a puzzling case, and I think he did panic and go back to the scene. How they never managed to capture him on cctv getting to and from his car in the high-viz vest is another mystery.

 

[Legally Bland]

Not much new in article, but I can't remember reading this explanation of ML's missing clothes.

The jury was shown CCTV of Mr Lane wearing a white T-shirt and grey shorts with an emblem on the side.


The prosecution claimed that he somehow disposed of these clothes to conceal evidence.


But Mr Lane said the items were at his home and he could not understand why police had not found them when they searched the property.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-39331297

 

[Tortoise]

Details:Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:25
Trial (Part Heard) - Prosecution Closing Speech - 10:35
Trial (Part Heard) - MICHAEL LANE; Defence Closing Speech - 11:15

http://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/Lewes-Crown-Court.php

 

[Tortoise]

It started exactly two weeks ago. I wonder why they predicted 3-4 weeks. Defence closing speech SRF remember. Could take a while, judging by his past performance.

 

[Squamous]

Maybe they think the jury will be out for a fortnight trying to work out what the hell went on!

 

[Legally Bland]

Not sure if this is from today or just a rehashing of older articles.

[FONT=&amp]The prosecution alleged that Lane had used Ms Grice’s bank card to draw money out of her account the day she died.
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[FONT=&amp]CCTV images show a man in a baseball cap, hooded top and high vis jacket withdrawing £60 from a cash machine.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Lane agreed it was likely the man in the footage had killed the teenager, but denied it was him and said he could not remember the PIN to Ms Grice’s card, although he admitted to having previously used it.[/FONT]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...e-east-sussex-lewes-crown-court-a7640931.html

 

[mrazda71]

I'd be interested in reading a full psych assessment on this guy!

I don't think it will take the jury long to come to a conclusion at all.

 

[Tortoise]

A comment posted by Sussex police

https://twitter.com/sussex_police

 

[Alyce]

40 minutes only for the Pros !

Wonder how long Flinty will take - he could be finished by end of today

 

[Tortoise]

Judge is summing up!

Details:

Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:25 Trial (Part Heard) - Prosecution Closing Speech - 10:35 Trial (Part Heard) - MICHAEL LANE; Defence Closing Speech - 11:15 Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 12:40 - 12:18 Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 12:36 Trial (Part Heard) - Summing Up - 12:46

 

[Tortoise]

Jury out after lunch?

 

[Legally Bland]

I think the cash machine CCTV quote was probably from yesterday's cross-ex of ML. This was published 6 hours ago, with a bit more detail.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1517...Lane_____I___m_not_the_man_on_CCTV_images___/

 

[Alyce]

I had to read that twice - summing up already.... So SRF did about an hour only.

Jury definately out after lunch, I agree

 

[Legally Bland]

I was going to post earlier that I think we'd get a verdict by the end of the week. We could get one by the end of the day at this rate.

 

[Squamous]

Ugh, I wish we knew more. It seems like there would be lots of room for reasonable doubt from what we've had reported but I'm guessing the scene in court is much more compelling. In the Helen Bailey case I think SRF had barely scraped the surface in his first hour!

 

[Alyce]

I agree Squamous. With the little we have heard, I am not feeling 100% re his guilt.

Some of his actions, such as;
going to the house, seeing Shana dead but not reporting to the police
hiding his trainers after realising he had accidentally got blood on them

I can see that as him being worried that the police would go after him as the obvious suspect. ( if he were innocent ).

Plus, I would still like to know where the other house mates were and how the police got so much CCTV of Lane at some points, but not at others, during the same time frame.

It does also seem odd for Lane to tell the police that there was no fire when he went into the house at 7.30-8am, which actually would tie in with the fire having been started not long before Shana was discovered.
Which in turn points to high viz jacket man at 9.30 perhaps ? and I dont believe the police have clearly identified this person as Lane.

However, to balance that, I do think Tortoise analysis of Lane's comments ( post 154 ) shows strong indications that make me lean towards him being guilty.

At the very least, he was somewhat obsessed with Shana and some of his reasoning just does not add up. I mean why would he go round to see her at 7.30 - 8am ( 2 days after they split up ) just to ensure that they were never going to speak again ?
Plus his constant changes of story don't make him look the most reliable.

 

[Alyce]

Court 1 T20167363

MICHAEL LANE

Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 14:15 - 13:17



Trial (Part Heard) - Summing Up - 14:16


http://xhibit.justice.gov.uk/lewes.htm

 

[Tortoise]

I think the jury probably have a far better idea of him, than we can glean from the reports. His answers are just so contradictory. If he'd said he wanted to talk to her once more about something, or to ask her if she was going to give him money, it might have been reasonable, but saying he wanted to make sure there wouldn't be contact again seems as if he is trying to get them to believe he didn't want the relationship but Shana did. He also could have said he went round to take off the tracker and found the front door open.

I think they're going to struggle to believe him. And I bet the shorts and trainers on disguised man are a dead give away. If you read further down in the article LB linked above, there is more about the disguise. He is apparently seen carrying the high-viz jacket and cap in one of the cctv images.

 

[Tortoise]

Just a few snippets

[FONT=&amp]He also refuted that he was seen on CCTV holding what appeared to be a baseball cap and high-vis jacket.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Addressing Lane, Mr Bennetts asked: “Take this opportunity. You killed her didn’t you?” Lane replied: “No.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mr Bennetts asked: “Do you agree it’s likely the person on CCTV drawing out money from her account killed her?” Lane replied: “It looks likely.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mr Bennetts said: “It was you in that disguise that day. The purpose of that outfit was to disguise your identity.” Lane denied this.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mr Bennetts suggested the trainers and shorts the man in the image was wearing were like those Lane had described himself wearing on the day of her death. Lane conceded it was possible they were similar but denied they were the same.

..

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Yesterday morning Lane denied ever using Miss Grice’s bank card or knowing her PIN number. In the afternoon he was recalled to the stand to add: “I had to use her card while we were going out. I would’ve had to use [the PIN number]. I had used it before but I did not know it on August 25.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mr Bennetts asked: “You didn’t volunteer that during your evidence until now.” Lane responded: “No.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mr Bennetts said: “You were asked the question by your own barrister. So on August 25 you had no idea what her PIN number was?” Lane responded: “No.”

...[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mr Bennetts also accused Lane of “choosing” the time he told police he had left the house after Miss Grice had been killed so he had an alibi.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Lane replied: “No I didn’t know she had been killed.” He responded: “Of course you did, you had seen her.” Lane said: “Yes but I didn’t know what time.”

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1517...Lane_____I___m_not_the_man_on_CCTV_images___/
[/FONT]

 

[Tortoise]

They've adjourned to tomorrow.