A teenager who blasted a drug dealer to death with a homemade ‘slam-gun’ told police that he never meant to hurt anyone when he grabbed the illegal weapon.

The 17-year-old admits picking up the gun but maintained that it was an accident as the weapon went off in his hands and killed Alan Garbutt in his North East flat.

Following his arrest, he told officers that he had disposed of the weapon in a field near to the scene of the fatal shooting in a flat in Helmsley House, Guisborough.

The weapon has never been recovered but a shotgun cartridge identical to the one fired from the ‘slam-gun’ was found in the field.

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And a firearms expert told Teesside Crown Court that a shotgun cartridge recovered from the scene showed it had been fired by a homemade weapon which resulted in the death of Mr Garbutt.

The Northern Echo: Alan GarbuttAlan Garbutt

Andre Horn told jurors that the weapon was pointed directly at the alleged victim’s chest and fired from around four feet away.

Jurors heard transcripts of his police interviews, which were read out in court, where he admitted dealing and taking drugs while staying in Mr Garbutt’s flat for several months before a row about drugs ended in the fatal shot being fired.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he panicked when the weapon went off in his hands following an argument about missing drugs and he fled the scene along with a number of other people who were in the flat at the time.

The police officer said: “You were accusing everyone in the room of taking them (his drugs) and then all of a sudden this thing is in your hands – you call it a pipe – and then Alan is dead.”

The Northern Echo: Police at the scene of the alleged murderPolice at the scene of the alleged murder

The teenager replied: “Yes.”

The officer asked him exactly what next, he replied: “There had been a big bang, I was frightened – I **** myself.”

The officer continued: “You had the presence of mind to change clothing and run, didn’t you?” The teenager replied: “Yes.”

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Earlier in the trial jurors watched CCTV from inside the block of flats showing the accused and other people running from the building in the early hours of August 8 last year.

The 62-year-old grandfather, from East Cleveland, died following the fatal shooting at Helmsley House, Guisborough, last summer.

Fire crews and ambulance crews also attended the block of flats at Helmsley House in Guisborough, from around 2.20am on August 8, where the body of Mr Garbutt was discovered.

The trial continues.