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04

Apr

Last Updated: 03/04/2025
Crime
Crime

Trial for men accused of murder at Harrogate flat adjourned

by Flora Grafton

| 04 Apr, 2025
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Flowers were left at the scene on Strawberry Dale.

The trial of two men accused of murder has been adjourned. 

Jason Mark Johnson, 27, and Philip John Watson, 34, are accused of murdering 56-year-old Paul Tillet at a flat on Strawberry Dale in Harrogate on September 29, 2024.

Mr Johnson, of the Harrogate area but of no fixed address, denied the allegation at Leeds Crown Court on November 1, 2024.

His co-accused, of Bower Street in Harrogate, has not yet entered a plea to the same charge.

The trial was supposed to begin last week (March 27) but it did not go ahead.

A spokesperson for Leeds Crown Court, where the trial will be held, this week told the Stray Ferret the trial was then set to begin on Tuesday (April 1).

However, the trial did not proceed and Mr Justice Hilliard adjourned it until June 9. It is expected to last for three weeks. 

Both men will remain in custody until then. 

North Yorkshire Police officers were called to the scene just before 11pm on September 29 and subsequently put the block of flats, owned by housing association Sanctuary, on lockdown.