Paul Retallick murder trial: The way Lee was going scared me, says father

A Langport father said he was scared after “the devil got inside” his son on the night the pair allegedly murdered Paul Retallick.

Michael McGinty, 55, told police afterwards that Lee McGinty, 25, was like a “kung-fu artist” as he punched, kicked and stamped on his sister’s former partner .

Mr Retallick, 35, who was father to Heidi McGinty’s youngest child, was found dead at her house on Iris Way, Langport, on Sunday, September 16 last year.

Miss McGinty’s father Michael McGinty and brother Lee McGinty both deny murdering him.

When questioned by police in the days after the incident, Michael McGinty vowed not to lie in order to protect his son.

He said: “The way Lee was going, it scared me. I’ve never seen him like that before. He’s not a violent person.”

A transcript of Michael McGinty’s police interviews was read out in court by Detective Chief Inspector Karen Thomas and James Tucker, prosecuting.

When he was first questioned on Monday, September 17, Michael McGinty said he found it difficult to remember the exact details of what had happened at his daughter’s house the evening before .

The next day he told police: “It was such a shock to see Lee get like that. Because I had three cans of lager I probably did react slower than I would have.”

He added: “To see something like that in a kid like that, it’s all out of character. I’ve known him all his life. It’s something you never expect to happen.”

Michael McGinty recalled going with his son Lee to Miss McGinty’s house on Iris Way to return a table and chairs she had lent him. He said Lee disappeared upstairs when they got there. He thought this was to get clothes he had left there as he used to live with his sister.

He said he joined his son in the upstairs bedroom and was told “he’s in here, he’s in here” which he understood meant Mr Retallick was in the wardrobe.

Michael McGinty told police he was worried the victim was carrying a weapon as he was “known to”. He said seeing the victim in the wardrobe scared him and he wondered if the victim was waiting until Miss McGinty and her children were asleep to attack them.

The trial was due to conclude yesterday.