REECE James was killed after a planned burglary went wrong, one of the men accused of his murder told a court.

Kieron Wellington, 30, of Durley Gardens, Bournemouth, said he and his co-defendants had plotted to burgle a flat in Roumelia Lane.

He said they planned the burglary after seeing Mr James's friend Tyrone Downer holding piles of money and a watch, believed to be a Rolex, in a photograph shared on Blackberry Messenger.

Wellington's girlfriend, Terri-Lea Campbell, who was found not guilty of murder yesterday, allegedly tried to find out when the flat was empty. She knew Mr James and Mr Downer and told
Wellington the two men were going back to London on Tuesday, July 24 last year, Winchester Crown Court heard.

The defendants, apart from Wellington, who was in London, then went to the property in the early hours of July 25 last year to steal anything they could find, he said.

However, Wellington's co-accused, Wayne Stephenson, 33, of East Dulwich, Keifer Hutchinson, 22, of Peckham, and Jarome Parkinson, 24, of Folkestone, were then involved in a struggle with the men still in the flat, it was claimed.

Wellington said: "The plan was to burgle the house and take the money if there was money there, or TVs, laptops, stuff like that."

He said he believed the money held by Mr Downer was gained "unlawfully" and said: "If you take money someone earned from an unlawful source, they are highly unlikely to alert the police".

He said that shortly after the planned raid, he spoke to Parkinson, who told him it had gone wrong and someone had been shot in a struggle.

"The first thing I said was 'How much money did you get?'" he said.

"He said 'It's all gone wrong. Someone has been shot'. I remember I immediately hung up the phone."

He said he then called back, saying he "had to know" what had happened, but admitted he did not try to find out the identity of the shot man.

Wellington said he discovered a man had died when speaking to Miss Campbell from a pay phone at 8.35am on July 25, adding she said it was on the news.

All four men deny murder.

The trial continues.