'˜I didn't kill or steal from my sick neighbour,' murder accused tells Sheffield juryÂ

 Glenn Boardman, who suffered from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, was stabbed to death in his flat in Steven Close, Chapeltown some time between 9pm and midnight on June 25 this year. 

The Crown allege the 59-year-old's upstairs neighbour, Michael Goddard, murdered him, before leaving a '˜circular trail' of his own blood just under three miles long in woodland and parkland in the Chapeltown area. 

Under cross-examination at Sheffield Crown Court today, Goddard agreed that he had possession of Mr Boardman's bank card and pin code, and used it on a regular basis to do his shopping and withdraw money for him. 

Prosecutor, Peter Moulson QC, described Mr Boardman as being '˜housebound' and told the jury that examination of his bank statements revealed there were numerous occasions between November 11 last year and June 17 this year, when Goddard had withdrawn two sums of money from Mr Boardman's account in quick succession. 

When asked about occasions when this had happened, Goddard said he was following Mr Boardman's instructions, and claimed he would have withdrawn two amounts because the cashpoint did not have enough no tes in the denomination of money Mr Boardman had requested. 

'Did you steal in the region of £4,000 from him,' asked Mr Moulson, to which Goddard replied: 'No.'

Mr Moulson continued: 'Did he find out on the 25th of June that you had been stealing from him?'

'No,' said Goddard. 

'Did you and Mr Boardman have an argument, did you kill him?' asked Mr Moulson, and Goddard replied: 'No.'

Goddard claims he rushed down to Mr Boardman's flat after hearing him shout '˜Mick, Mick,' and found him seriously injured in his bedroom, with an intruder in the room. 

He says the unknown intruder slashed him on his left hand, before jumping out of the window. 

During his call to the emergency services, and a subsequent prepared statement to the police, Goddard claimed he had just found Mr Boardman when he dialled 999. 

But in evidence he agreed he had gone on a three mile circular walk taking around an hour, during which he left a trail of his blood and  discarded his blood-stained jacket, before finally calling the emergency services. 

During the beginning of today's evidence, Goddard claimed to have gone on the walk in a bid to find the intruder, and had left the house without his mobile phone or a weapon to protect him. 

'Wouldn't you have been scared,' asked Mr Moulson. 

Goddard replied: 'No.'

Under cross-examination, Goddard later contradicted his own account and answered '˜no' when Mr Moulson asked him: 'You didn't go on the walk to find the intruder, did you?'

Goddard, of Steven Close, Chapeltown denies one count of murder. 

The trial, which is expected to conclude this week, continues.