THE jury in the trial of two teenagers charged with the churchyard murder of a homeless man will retire this morning to consider their verdicts.

The boys, both aged 15, are jointly accused of the murder of George Akers as he lay beneath a tree in St Cuthbert’s Church, Darlington, where he had settled down to sleep.

The prosecution allege both kicked and stamped on the 59-year-old on June 11, causing 35 rib fractures.

However, the boys, who are from the Darlington area, blame each other and deny the charge. Neither can be named for legal reasons and are referred to as Defendant One and Defendant Two.

During closing arguments at Teesside Crown Court yesterday, Eric Elliott QC, Defendant Two’s barrister, said testimony provided by Defendant One’s witnesses was a conspiracy to “get him out of the mess he is in”.

He added that despite being pantomime season, he would “never have thought such fairy tales would ever be put forward to a jury”.

Defendant Two has told the court that he kicked and stamped on Mr Akers once to get him to release his grip on Defendant One’s leg.

Mr Elliot told the jury: “You need to decide whether the force he used was unlawful and, at the time he used it, did he have the intention of causing really serious bodily harm?

“The violence that he used was to defend his friend – the way in which he used it demonstrates that he did not have the intention of causing really serious bodily harm.”

Defendant Two has told the court that the attack happened on the pair’s second visit to the churchyard when they were accompanied by two other young witnesses.

Neil Davey QC, for Defendant One, said that initially the two witnesses lied to police.

However, when Defendant One was charged with murder, they told how they saw Defendant Two “jumping up and down on George Akers’ back”. Mr Davey added: “When Defendant One was charged with murder, they realised they had to tell the truth. They could not know that what they had seen was what the pathologist said had killed him (Mr Akers).”