A MAN accused of murdering his mother's ex-lover told police he had been climbing on the moors where James Bowman's body was found, but had seen nothing.

Daniel Delker, 23, of Kirkham, Preston, denied any involvement in the brutal killing.

But a jury at Leeds Crown Court heard how Delker's version of events differed from that of the prosecution.

The prosecution claim Delker had been summoned by his mother Melanie Payne after she had thrown ex-boyfriend James Bowman -- described to the court as a "drifter" and a "womaniser" -- out of the family home in Cornholme, Todmorden.

The couple had started a relationship after they met at a psychic fair in the spring of that year.

The court heard Mr Bowman, who practised Wicca Witchcraft, had been pestering his ex and she had asked her eldest son to "warn him off."

But Delker denied being told about a problem with his mum's ex-boyfriend when she first called him on Friday, September 14.

He told police: "I didn't hear my mum mention anything about Jamie on the phone as she was talking to me on the train and I suffer from tinnitus, so I wouldn't have heard it."

The warning off, according to Mr David Hatton, QC, for the prosecution resulted in violent death for Mr Bowman -- at the hands of the three young men. Jamie's battered body was discovered on the Sunday morning, September 16 last year by a man out walking with his son and their dogs. Mr Bowman's body was lying in a pool of blood.

He had suffered horrendous injuries. A post mortem revealed he had died of multiple stab wounds to the chest and head injuries.

He had been viciously stabbed in his back, shoulders, buttock and right thigh. He also suffered over 20 blows to his head with a rock.

Delker, his younger sibling, Nicholas Grundy, now 22, from Cornholme, Todmorden, and his best friend, David Sandham, 24, from Cleveleys, Blackpool, all deny murdering James Bowman.

(Proceeding)