Murder defendant Jack Crawley tells jury: ‘I worked for a mafia gang’

The 20-year-old defendant, who denies murder and attempted murder, made the claim by providing further evidence about his background and his claim that he was forced into serious crimes by a crime gang.

When asked by his lawyer, he called the crime group the “Central Grove Mafia.”

They gave him criminal assignments and controlled him when he killed Paul Taylor on Oct. 18, 2023, Crawley said.

The defendant, a security guard at Cumberland Municipal Infirmary, said he was stealing Mr. Taylor’s car on October 18 when the 56-year-old fell during an altercation and hit his head on concrete.

Although he resuscitated Mr. Taylor, he died at the scene, said Crawley, who denies attacking the hospital’s catering manager with a hammer while he was alive.

He just wanted to take his car, not kill him, Crawley said. The defendant claimed he needed a car because he had been ordered by his crime bosses to commit two burglaries – a raid on a cannabis farm and another burglary.

Since he was in debt to the gang, their bosses had forced him to tax or steal from other criminals since his mid-teens, the defendant said.

After Crawley resumed his evidence yesterday, his defense lawyer KC Toby Hedworth asked him: “You told the jury that you had previously attempted suicide. One of those occasions was five or six years ago.

“It was all three of them,” Crawley said.

Mr Hedworth continued: “So did you have to seek medical attention?” Crawley said he did. “Did you point out that you were involved in the drug trade?” asked the lawyer.

Crawley replied: “Yes. Based on what I told them, concerns were raised that I was involved in the county lines drug trade.”

Mr Hedworth referred the defendant to an earlier statement he had given in evidence to the effect that he could say which crime group he was working for at the time of Mr Taylor’s death.

“What is the name of the criminal group?” asked Mr Hedworth.

Crawley replied: “CGM, Central Grove Mafia… I gave the prosecution an overview of it, but they didn’t ask any further questions about it.”

Mr Hedworth then asked Crawley about text messages he had exchanged relating to the video game Grand Theft Auto (GTA). The lawyer asked what the purpose of these messages was.

Crawley replied: “It was code.”

He said he sent those messages to confirm to his co-defendant Marcus Goodfellow, 20, that he had been ordered to continue doing criminal jobs.

He said he couldn’t send messages that openly talked about picking up stolen cars or breaking into drug dealers’ homes.

Goodfellow denies being involved in organized crime or knowing the circumstances under which Crawley acquired Mr Taylor’s Vauxhall Corsa when they took him to Langwathby.

The defendant was then cross-examined by prosecutor David McLachlan KC.

When Mr McLachlan asked about the suicide attempts, he began: “Mr Crawley, you’ve been pretty busy lying again, haven’t you? You just told this jury that you attempted suicide on three separate occasions; Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Crawley agreed.

The lawyer referred to an earlier statement in which the defendant spoke of two suicide attempts, not three. He asked Crawley which statement was true. “One of them was twice in one day,” the defendant replied.

Crawley denied exaggerating and said his claims were noted in his medical records. His involvement in the county lines drug trade was essentially “gang drug trafficking,” he said.

Mr McLachlan asked about the defendant’s alleged connection to a Mafia crime group and said the gang in question was called the “Certified Grove Mafia” and not the “Central Grove Mafia” as claimed by Crawley.

“They have different names,” Crawley said. “Tell the jury what CGM does,” Mr McLachlan said.

Crawley replied: “They’re a drug dealing gang from west London.” The lawyer asked: “Are they interested in music or?” Crawley said: “Yes. Some of them. They are rappers. Yes.” Mr McLachlan asked if the group was “big in Carlisle”.

In response, Crawley said: “The train journey to Carlisle is eight hours. Mr McLachlan said: “Your life is just one big lie, isn’t it, Mr Crawley?” The defendant said that wasn’t true.

During this phase of questioning, Crawley asked the prosecutor, “Are you saying I’m lying about my involvement in gang violence?” Are you saying I’m making this all up? Concerns about county boundaries were raised nearly six years ago.

“Such concerns are not raised unless I have made certain statements, said certain things; that I’m involved in it.”

Mr McLachlan said: “I maintain that you are not being controlled by anyone. You did what you did: you killed a man for no reason.

That’s what I’m suggesting.” Crawley said he wouldn’t have tried to steal Mr Taylor’s car if he hadn’t been asked to do so. He said the plan was to steal a car before changing the license plates and use it for a burglary.

This should be done at a location in Darlington, he said. In earlier evidence, Crawley said he hit Mr Taylor’s body with a hammer after attempting to burn it at Finglandrigg Nature Reserve.

He believed this would cause the remains to “disintegrate,” he said.

The defendant, of Sheehan Crescent, Carlisle, also denies attempting to murder a man in York after he missed his police bail following his first arrest in December. He told the jury he acted in self-defense.

The process continues.