'She was besotted with him' - court told Sheffield woman helped alleged killer boyfriend flee UK
A young woman is said to have been ‘besotted’ with her boyfriend when she allegedly helped him flee the country to avoid prosecution for murder.
Paris Askew, aged 23, of Griffiths Road, High Green, is on trial at Sheffield Crown Court after being charged with assisting an offender.
She denies the offence.
She is being tried alongside 25-year-old Ethan Hallows, of Oxford Street, Upperthorpe, who is facing a number of charges including murder and possession of firearms with intent to endanger life following a fatal shooting on December 12, 2023.
When opening the trial on December 2, prosecuting barrister Bryan Cox KC told the court how Hallows had ‘made the hit’ on young dad Kevin Pokuta, who tragically found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was shot dead in a car he was sat inside on a Sheffield street.
The proscutor claimed Askew - Hallows’ girlfriend at the time - knowing of this crime, then assisted him evade police before helping him flee to Dubai.
Messages between the couple were shown to jurors, with the court being told that it showed how they conspired to build a life for themselves abroad.
However, in his closing remarks yesterday (December 15), defence barrister Sean Sullivan - who represents Askew - told jurors that the prosecution had left out vital context in their analysis of those messages.
“At that time, she loved him, she cared for him deeply and she believed she was carrying his child,” Mr Sullivan added.
He explained how for his client to be found guilty, it must be proved that she knew of Hallows’ crimes and was actively helping him to evade the police.
Askew’s verdict will also rely on whether Hallows is found guilty of murder.
While Mr Sullivan agrees that Askew did help Hallows travel to Dubai - asking her mum to drive him to the airport - he told the court that the messages presented by the prosecution were ‘cherry picked’ to give a ‘false impression’ of events.
He cites an early message in which Hallows says he will ‘lick a grow’ - steal from a cannabis farm - in which Askew responded by asking ‘did you get caught?’
“If she had honestly believed that message was true, that he had been involved in some form of theft or robbery incident, does the messaging that follows, is it consistent with her taking that message seriously,” he asked jurors.
“We fall back into the rather dull conversation between partners leading their every day lives.
“It’s simply not referred to again - at all.
“Instead in the morning they’re talking about driving lessons.”
He told the court about messages the morning after the shooting which discuss ‘dentists’ and ‘air purifiers’ before Hallows asks Askew to take some clothes to her mother’s as he had a decorator coming to his address.
The prosecutor had previously argued that Askew was attempting to help Hallows avoid police by housing him at a different property.
“The prosecution knew those messages were there - they still advanced a misleading interpretation,” Mr Sullivan continued.
“The full messages revealed that Ethan Hallows did not want to be at that property when a decorator was there.
“That’s the crucial context that has been omitted there.”
The defence barrister argued that it was only when meeting in person that Askew became aware of any problems, and argues that the context of the relationship could shine a light on why she chose to help him travel to Dubai.
He said that she was ‘besotted with him’, pointing to messages where she was organising decorators for his flat, organising meal prep, apologises for a lack of food in the house and says she will run a bath for him.
By December 14, she messaged him to say she thought she was pregnant with his child, the court heard.
He explained how Hallows protested his innocence twice in messages, and continues to do so now as he stands trial, arguing that it would be reasonable to expect that he did the same with Askew back in 2023.
Jurors were told that Askew may have been worried for the safety of her boyfriend, as he may have been targeted by other criminals, and in her infatuation she felt the need to protect him.
They were told to look at messages between the pair while Hallows was in Dubai, in which Askew asks whether he will ‘be back for Christmas’ and talks about coming ‘home, UK, with me’.
Mr Sullivan told the court that these messages are ‘entirely inconsistent’ with someone who thinks he’s guilty, or is trying to help him avoid justice.
“She is trying to manage him. She is being supportive, but she then uses that position she has with him to try to persuade him to come home,” he added.
“I say on behalf of Paris Askew, that when you look at all those messages, you simply cannot be sure of those two crucial parts of the offence.”