Four accused of murdering Blackhall dad John Littlewood told of new trial date after coronavirus delay

John Littlewood, 36, was found dead in the bedroom of a house in Third Street, Blackhall Colliery, on Tuesday, July 30, last year, after he sustained head injuries.

Donna Balfour, Ninth Street, 35, and James Riley, 30, both of Ninth Street in Blackhall Colliery, and Marty Bates, 30 and Tracey Bunney, 44, both of Tenth Street, also Blackhall Colliery, deny his murder had been due to stand trial starting on Wednesday, April 22, at Teesside Crown Court.

However, the hearing, which is expected to last four weeks, could not go ahead after the Lord Chief Justice, The Lord Burnett of Maldon, said no jury trials would go ahead unless they were expected to last three days or less.

Now the four have been told their trial will begin on Wednesday, June 3, following a short hearing held today, Tuesday, May 5.

At a previous hearing, Balfour, who gave birth to a girl in January, and Riley applied to have the case against them dismissed.

While the result of that application is yet to be formally made to the court, all four have been listed to stand trial next month.

Last Friday, May 1, the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary said it aims to restart jury trials as soon as it is safe to do so, with a small number of crown courts identified to host the first resumed hearings, while keeping to social distancing and the health and safety of all those who use the courts.

These will be assessed in the next week with the help of Public Health England to work out if a jury trial is possible, with the Lord Chief Justice to make a final decision for jury trials once the whole system is ready.

The family of Mr Littlewood, who was known as John D, joined detectives as they appealed for anyone with information to get in touch with police in the aftermath of his death.

They said: “John D was a son, brother and father who liked to help anyone if he could. He had a heart of gold.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

How to subscribe to the print edition

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of.

Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.