A WOMAN accused of murder didn’t report two men she said killed a rough sleeper in a stairwell because she “didn’t want to get them in trouble.”

Martin Dines, 56, died in St Mary’s Car Park in Balkerne Hill, Colchester, in April.

Heidi Kennedy, 47, Darren Miller, 46, and Mark Hartley, 32, are jointly charged with the killing but all three deny murder.

Kennedy said Miller and Hartley had continued smoking and drinking as they attacked Mr Dines in the car park – with Miller being the main aggressor.

They later returned to Hartley’s flat in New Kiln Road, Colchester, but the men left two hours later to steal booze.

Simon Spence QC, prosecuting at Ipswich Crown Court, asked Kennedy why she didn’t run away or call the police while they were away.

She said: “At first I didn’t want to get them in trouble.

“At the time my head was absolutely frazzled.

“I didn’t know what to do, what to think, I felt sick.

“I thought if I called the police they might trace my phone – I didn’t want to implicate them – I was scared of them.

“I was petrified of them and I was scared of any repercussions.”

Kennedy, of Queen Elizabeth Way, Colchester, has admitted assaulting Mr Dines’ friend Lisa Peck on the same night and has also revealed she tipped food over the homeless man’s head during the Crouch Street altercation where Miller and Hartley punched and kicked him.

When asked by Mr Spence, whether she goaded the other two on, Kennedy said: “That wasn’t as such to humiliate him – it is better than punching and kicking.

“It was just my reaction at the time.

“They didn’t need any encouragement.”

Mr Spence said she should have left Miller and Hartley – who she had only met that day – at that stage Kenendy said: “I reacted poorly.

“I should have gone but there is nothing I can do about that now.

“Looking back I should have run at 100 mph in the opposite direction.”

Kennedy told the jury Miller was intent on finding Mr Dines and Miss Peck – who had been saying to other people Hartley had never served in the Parachute Regiment – after the two assaults but thought he may have wanted to apologise.

When Mr Spence suggested she was trying to add gloss to her story, she said: “I am not glossing over anything.

“I admitted to the assault on Lisa Peck, tipping the food over Martin Dines which was very stupid of me and feeling his pulse.

“If that makes me guilty then I am guilty.

“I certainly didn’t murder anyone.

“I understand you have got a job to do but I won’t stand here and be made to feel like I have done something when I absolutely have not.

“That is not just and that is not justice.”

She has repeatedly told the jury Miller was the main aggressor in the stairwell while Hartley played a minor role.

Miller, of no fixed address has admitted to Mr Dines’ manslaughter.

The trial continues.