A MAN accused of hiring a hitman to murder his stepfather had no reason to have him killed, a court heard.

Flash Day, of Rose Allen Avenue, Colchester, is accused of recruiting a hitman to kill John Sales in order to inherit up to £200,000 from the sale of a house in Hythe Hill, Colchester.

Mr Sales was stabbed repeatedly in the neck, face, chest and back during a brutal and prolonged attack at his home by Ryan Hynes, a man he had never met.

Brian Reece, prosecuting, claims it was all done for money.

But Jacqueline Carey, defending at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday, said the prosecution case lacked solid evidence.

He said: “The Crown’s case has been littered with red herrings.

“The definition of a red herring is something that misleads or distracts from the real issues.

“At the heart of this case is the Crown’s need to prove an agreement.

“That is the real issue, that is what a conspiracy is.

“I say the Crown has no actual identifying evidence of this alleged agreement.

“I am not suggesting those who decide to do something like this draw up a contract.

“But there is no actual evidence of this agreement before this attack on Mr Sales.

“Hynes had no motive to act this way and the Crown have looked around for someone that does have a motive.”

The court heard how Day was named an executor of Mr Sales’s will and the prosecution allege Day was worried he would be cut out of it.

They claim Day worked with a co-conspirator to hire Hynes to kill Mr Sales, in a bid to get up to £200,000 from the eventual sale of his house.

But Ms Carey argued Day was never thinking about being frozen out of the will.

She said: “If you were told you were going to be an executor of your stepfather’s will, to deal with his estate which includes a former family home, you wouldn’t immediately think ‘he is going to cut me out of it’.

“It would be a pretty callous thing to do then cut him out of the will.

“People do not behave like that and there is no evidence to suggest Mr Sales ever dreamed of behaving like that.”

“There was no reason for Mr Day to think he was not going to get his share.

“There was no need to have Mr Sales killed.

“If he was not in the will, then killing Mr Sales was hardly likely to get him in it.

“The prosecution talk about a lack of motive, it may be that Ryan Hynes did not need one.”

Hynes, 22, of Long Road, Lawford, has admitted attempted murder. Day, 46, denies conspiracy to murder.

The trial continues.