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Murder suspect messaged victim's daughter claiming he had tried to rape her, court told

A murder suspect used her alleged victim's phone to send a message to his daughter claiming he had tried to rape her and was also a 'grass and a woman beater,' a court heard.

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Michelle Bird, aged 35, sent the message to Bethany Bright from Michael Spalding's phone in April last year, which prompted her to take a screen shot of the message and forward it to her uncle Richard Spalding.

Bird and Lorenzo Simon, aged 34, of Oxford Road, Smethwick are accused of murdering Mr Spalding and dismembering his body before dumping it in a canal. They deny murder.

Miss Bright told Birmingham Crown Court that although she did not initially respond to the message, she called her father's phone within days, which was answered by a woman calling herself "Shelley."

She added Shelley knew who she was, asking 'is that Michael's daughter?'

"I asked her 'why?' She said that he had beaten her up and pinned her down and tried to rape her when she was pregnant, referring to Michael. She also mentioned her boyfriend (Simon), saying that something was going to happen when he returned from the shop. Something was going to happen to my father, that he was going to be hurt, it was along those lines. That he was going to be hurt by her boyfriend, but she did not say what her boyfriend was going to do," Miss Bright added.

When she asked Shelley why she hadn't contacted the police, she was told Mr Spalding 'needed to know what it was like.'

During the conversation, which lasted two minutes, 46 seconds, Miss Bright also asked Shelley how she had her father's phone, to which she replied Mr Spalding had dropped it as he was running out of the house.

She said: "Her tone was normal to start with then getting slightly aggressive. She started to shout. She started to become aggressive after I said 'why didn't you contact the police instead of contacting us.'"

Kaly Kaul, defending Bird, asked Miss Bright whether Bird had also said Simon and her had really helped Mr Spalding and given him a place to live, to which she replied that she hadn't.

Miss Bright added: "Her tone was aggressive and nasty. I was concerned."

The hearing also heard from Elaine Turley, who lived opposite the defendants and remembered them moving in with Mr Spalding.

She observed Simon and Spalding looking under the bonnet of a navy blue VW Passat, which had been leaking oil, adding that although she could not hear what was being said from inside her house, they appeared to be arguing because Simon was moving his arms around in a manner that suggested he thought Mr Spalding had done something wrong.

Another witness, Neil Rowley, who also lived in Oxford Road, recalled seeing an argument between the two men while decorating their home as he was en route to get some shopping.

The trial continues.

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