Bradley Wall murder trial: Leeds takeaway owner tells of ‘panic’ after finding 24-year-old’s body

The 24-year-old was found dead in Fairford Avenue, Beeston, on June 23 this year with multiple injuries to his head, face and body, Leeds Crown Court heard. Two men, Patrick Mason, 31, and Aiden Ramsdale, 25, are on trial for his murder.

During the prosecution case on the second day of the trial, the jury heard a statement from the owner of Su Casa Grill on the corner of Fairford Avenue and Burton Road. The man arrived for work at about 11am and at 2.25pm, he said he went to use the takeaway’s toilets - located in the basement of 2 Fairford Avenue.

The basement is accessed via a flight of stairs to the outside of the property. As he walked down the stairs, the chef said he noticed a pile of debris, wood and ash - and blood running into a drain. The door to the basement was closed and the takeaway owner said he saw the bottom of a body, “all curled up” and covered with big slab panel and debris.

In his statement, the takeaway owner said he “panicked” and ran back inside to call the police. He said the door to the basement was usually locked, but he had recently encountered “drug addicts” going in and out of the building.

Leeds Crown Court then heard statements from emergency service workers who arrived at the scene. A paramedic received an emergency call at 2.30pm and arrived at Fairford Avenue within about three minutes; police were already present.

They were directed to Mr Wall’s body at the bottom of the basement stairs and said his body was "doubled over” with his head on his knees. They saw a slab on his back, big enough to cover his head and neck. The slab looked burnt and Mr Wall’s hair was singed like it had been on fire, the paramedic said.

His colleague noted there was “a lot of blood on the floor” around the patient and “appeared to be congealed”, suggesting he had been there for some time.

The court heard Mr Wall was “cold to the touch” and paramedics used an ECG test, but there was no output. He was declared deceased at 2.42pm.

After investigating the body, a police officer conducted enquiries in 2 Fairford Avenue, a building made up of six individual flats. In a statement read out in court, she said the door to flat four, on the second floor, had been broken, as if it had been kicked in. There was rubbish and food inside the property, as well as tin foil and metal spoons which she knew to be drugs paraphernalia.

There was no sign of blood or anyone else inside the flat, but the officer said the window was open and there was a large roof tile that looked loose.

Mason, of Whingate, Armley, and Ramsdale, of Fairford Avenue, have both pleaded not guilty to murder. The trial continues.