AN UNDERCOVER police officer told a jury he heard a manslaughter suspect say: “I held him against the wall by his throat.”

Five undercover Dorset Police officers gave details about their surveillance of Aaron Kirk Brown and Hannah Day, who are both accused of the manslaughter and attempted robbery of Weymouth pensioner John Cornish. The 75-year-old died in his home on The Esplanade aged 75 on September 6, 2019. It is alleged the pair assaulted him and tried to steal bank cards and cash from him, causing him to have a heart attack and die.

An officer was deployed to carry out surveillance in Weymouth on September 16 last year of Day while she was on bail after being interviewed by police. He sat next to her in one of the Victorian booths along The Esplanade.

He said she was talking to her boyfriend about the time she was arrested and apologised to him for getting him involved in the police investigation.

He overheard Day talking about Brown, in which she said: “He was proper nasty when he was on the gear.”

Another undercover officer said he overheard her say to another woman on a separate day: “I have to stay away from the other guy that did the crime with me.”

One officer told Winchester Crown Court that he overheard a conversation between Brown and another man in McDonald’s on St Mary Street, Weymouth on September 18 last year. The other man asked Brown what had happened and Brown made a gesture described as a ‘vigorous push and pull gesture’.

Later that day, Another officer tasked with surveillance told how he heard him say: “I held him against the wall by his throat” before laughing.

At one point the other man said to Brown something about him needing to delete his messages and history.

However, Ms Sarah Frances Jones QC, representing Brown, argued that the footage heard Brown talking about military matters instead.

The trial continues.