'I wouldn't rob my mate' says father suspected of helping his killer son
A man who was allegedly involved in a robbery plot that saw his friend murdered told a court 'I wouldn't rob my mate'.
Prolific burglar Paul Cooke was jailed for more than 28 years last year after admitting killing Ronald Smith, who was stabbed at his maisonette in Cottage Walk, West Bromwich in May 2015.
Cooke's father, Colin Cooke senior, and brother, Colin junior, have both been charged with conspiracy to rob Mr Smith.
However, Cooke senior, 62, told Wolverhampton Crown Court he and Mr Smith had been friends since childhood and said: "I wouldn't rob my mate."
Giving his defence, Cooke senior said he and 65-year-old Mr Smith had been close friends since growing up together on the Yew Tree Estate in Walsall.
They had continued to see each other regularly – 'two or three times a week' – until around 2012, Cooke senior told the court. In 2015 this had dropped to 'once or twice a month' Cooke senior said.
Cooke senior told the jury the last time he saw Mr Smith was around a week before his murder. He said: "On that day we went up to the betting shop."
Cooke senior's son Paul admitted murdering Mr Smith on May 6, 2015 at the crown court last year.
His father said: "If I'd have known my son had done that in the first place I would have handed him in to the police."
Paul Cooke had been released from prison on May 5 – the day before the murder. His father insisted he had not known of his son's release, or seen him before Mr Smith was killed.
He said the first time he saw his son after his release was on May 8, when he was in a car with Colin Cooke junior.
Cooke senior, from Wilford Road, West Bromwich, and 37-year-old junior, of no fixed address, deny conspiracy to rob Mr Smith and assisting an offender. The trial continues.
