A Milton Keynes man has admitted trying to help a pair of Didcot murderers by throwing the police off the scent.
Zarahn Zaman, 22, provided killers Brookton Lagan and Tyson Cyrille with clothing and travel documentation before their attempt to flee to Amsterdam. They were arrested at Luton Airport just days after stabbing Darren MacCormick to death in Didcot in the early hours of January 9, 2020.
He also accepted having ‘purchased, retained and used’ a mobile phone that had been in the possession of Lagan at the time of Mr MacCormick’s murder.
Appearing before Oxford Crown Court on Monday morning (June 19), the day of his trial, Zaman, of Fullers Slade, Milton Keynes, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender. He had no previous convictions.
Judge Michael Gledhill KC agreed to grant him bail with conditions to hand over his passport to the police and sign on at Milton Keynes police station three times a week
He must also live and sleep at his home address and cooperate with the preparation of pre-sentence reports to be compiled by a psychologist and a probation officer.
“I am making absolutely no promises as to what sentence you are likely to be given by His Honour Judge Pringle KC, who will deal with this case he having tried the murder case,” he added.
Zaman will be sentenced on September 1.
A co-defendant, Aiysha Lazereg, 22, of Downhead Park, Milton Keynes, was alo due to stand trial at the crown court this week, but prosecutor Sarah Morris said that Zaman’s plea meant the Crown would not pursue its case against the woman.
The charge she faces would formally be dropped in September, the court heard.
Killers Lagan and Cyrille were given life sentences in late 2020, when a jury at Oxford Crown Court found both men guilty of murdering dad of three Darren MacCormick in an argument that had its origins over drugs.
Mr MacCormick had been staying at friend Robin Over’s home when he was stabbed to death in the early hours of January 9, 2020.
Brookton Lagan (left) and Taison Cyrille (right) Picture: Thames Valley Police
The previous day, Lagan had gone to Mr Over’s home and smashed a window on his way out. The pair were said to have argued about Mr Over allegedly not being paid for driving drug dealer Lagan around.
Mr MacCormick was stabbed in the chest, while a friend was stabbed in the thigh and another struck about the head.
A knife attributed to Lagan had Mr MacCormick’s blood on it, although he claimed he’d not stabbed the man and it had got on the weapon by ‘secondary transfer’ from Cyrille’s clothing, which was ‘covered in blood’.
Handout image of knife in Darren MacCormick murder case Picture: TVP/CPS
Both men were given life sentences with a minimum term to serve behind bars of 19 years. They made an unsuccessful attempt to appeal their convictions in 2021.
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