A FRIEND of a murder suspect has told how he bought a television from him for £60 less than three hours after his alleged victim was last seen alive by her family.

Raymond McLoughlin said accused killer Gareth Dack turned up at his home “sweating heavily” with the brand new boxed 49ins Digi-Home flat-screen device.

He said he had known Dack for a couple of years, they went “lamping” with their lurcher dogs together, and he called unannounced at 10pm on April 2 last year.

Dack, 33, wanted £100 for the TV, but they settled on a price of £60, Teesside Crown Court heard, and Mr McLoughlin said he considered it to be a bargain.

The item - with the suspect’s fingerprints on - had been at mother-of-nine Norma Bell’s home in Hartlepool as the 79-year-old stored it for one of her grandsons.

It is alleged drug-user Dack was short of money and went to Mrs Bell’s house in Westbourne Road to steal.

Recordings of calls, said to have been made by Dack on Mrs Bell’s landline, to the Babestation soft porn television channel were played to the court and a voice recognition expert said there was “strong support” for the voice being Dack’s.

Out-of-work asbestos lagger Dack, a father-of-four of Windermere Road, Hartlepool, denies charges of murder and arson with intent to endanger life.

Mrs Bell’s body was found in her burning terraced house after emergency services were called to the scene shortly after 8.20am on April 3 last year.