The wife of a man on trial for the murder of Jack Treeby handed a friend £500 to give him an alibi, a court heard yesterday.

Kelly Treeby asked Jemma Kent to tell police she slept with George Treeby on the night Jack, right, was run over and his brother Gary was shot in the leg in Tovil, it was claimed.

Miss Kent told police last Saturday: “They gave me £500 to say I am sleeping with George that night, when I didn’t.

"I took it but it made me ill. I am pregnant. I ain’t doing it. I will give the money back.

“They kept pressurising to do it, but I didn’t want anything to do with it. The solicitor even came round to see me and tried to pressure me to help George and he kept ringing me.”

Det Con Paul Mundey said he went to see the 29-year-old mother and she gave a full account of what she claimed happened.

DC Mundey confirmed Miss Kent said she had not had any contact with George, 23, long before last Christmas.

The killing and shooting happened in Quarry Road, Tovil, on December 27.

Before Miss Kent gave evidence by TV link Judge Andrew Patience QC warned her that she did not have to answer any questions that might incriminate her.

She told the jury she had no intentions of providing the alibi but felt intimidated.

Miss Kent said Kelly Treeby contacted her the day after the murder and they met with others for dinner in Paddock Wood on February 23.

“When she dropped me off she asked if I would be an alibi for George,” she said. “I said I didn’t want to get involved in it.”

Mrs Treeby, she said, asked her to say George stayed the night with her at her flat the night Jack died.

“I felt intimidated I had to do it, otherwise there would be trouble,” she said. “The solicitor went to see Kelly. She phoned me to say he would be coming round to see me.

“She came round afterwards and gave me £500.”

Miss Kent and Kelly Treeby were later charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The trial continues