Fugitive's meeting with drug dealer's killer

HIS name loomed large as the full horror of Thomas Campbell's murder emerged for the first time. But John Belfield was nowhere to be seen.

- ANDREW BARDSLEY

Believed to have fled the country, his name rang out at Bolton Crown Court but he did not take his seat alongside his four co-accused as five weeks worth of evidence played out.

Despite his absence, he played a central role in the trial.

Captured on CCTV footage, his social media activity and movements were forensically examined, prosecutors claimed it put him at the scene of the crime. Newly-released CCTV footage taken from the Flavour Factory takeaway in Failsworth shows Belfield with Reece Steven, a convicted armed robber later found guilty of Campbell's murder, just hours before the killing.

His alleged motives were the central plank of their case, and he was described as the 'mastermind' of the attack. They argued that alleged drug dealer Belfield wanted to punish Thomas Campbell for daring to begin a relationship with his ex-girlfriend, a woman he was said to regard as 'his property! Robbing Campbell of cash, drugs or valuables was another advantage of a plan to target his love rival, they claimed.

They alleged he was at the scene when Campbell was 'tortured to death' on Saturday, July 2 last year. He had plotted with Campbell's ex-wife Coleen Campbell who provided key intelligence about her former spouse's movements, the trial heard.