A MAN accused of murdering a woman in her own home and attempting to murder her elderly aunt 32 years ago has said he never broke into people’s houses.
Giving evidence on the fifth day of his trial in the Royal Court yesterday, Rickie Tregaskis admitted that he used to commit burglaries, but said: ‘I would do commercial burglaries, but never domestic burglaries. It was something I didn’t do.’
He added: ‘I had a problem with society. I didn’t really burgle. I smashed things up.’
Barbara Griffin and her 84-year-old aunt Emma Anton were attacked in Mrs Griffin’s flat in St Saviour by an intruder in the early hours of 2 August 1990.
Mrs Griffin, aged 59 at the time, was stabbed in the heart and died, while Miss Anton, though stabbed repeatedly, survived. Mr Tregaskis (53) denies murder and attempted murder.
Prosecution witnesses last week said they had seen a man fitting Mr Tregaskis’s description running from the area at the time of the attacks. Others said that he had confessed to them that he was guilty of the stabbings.
But yesterday he denied this, saying: ‘I never confessed to anybody.’
Mr Tregaskis said that on the night in question he was out with friends visiting pubs and clubs in town, after which he returned to his grandmother’s flat, where he was living, at around 1.30am, and was in bed when the attacks took place.
Advocate Rebecca Morley-Kirk, defending, said: ‘It has been suggested that you went out that night to commit break-ins.’
Her client replied: ‘That’s not right.’
Mr Tregaskis admitted buying a Hitler Youth knife from a St Helier antique shop on the afternoon before the attacks, but said he would often buy Nazi memorabilia there.
He told the court: ‘I was fascinated by the Third Reich. It was part of my collectibles.’
Advocate Morley-Kirk asked: ‘Did you enter Miss Griffin’s flat? Did you stab her? Did you stab Miss Anton? Were you the naked man seen running through the streets?’
To all of those questions, Mr Tregaskis answered: ‘No.’
He was interviewed by the States police a few days after the attack but without a lawyer present. Mr Tregaskis said: ‘I didn’t do anything, so why would I need a lawyer?’
The trial continues.
