Boxing Day gunman 'felt nothing' after shooting Indian student Anuj Bidve dead
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A man who shot dead an Indian student then labelled himself “Psycho” in court has told a jury that he felt “nothing” when he realised he had killed somebody.
Kiaran Stapleton, 21, has already admitted he killed Anuj Bidve, 23, a "random stranger" who was walking with friends through the Ordsall area of Salford in the early hours of Boxing Day last year.
Stapleton, from Ordsall, Salford, has already entered a guilty plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
But he denies murder, which carries an automatic life sentence on conviction.
Mr Bidve's parents, Subhash and Yogini, from Pune, India, sat in the public gallery just yards away from Stapleton, dressed in a grey tracksuit, in the witness box as he gave evidence at the start of his defence case at Manchester Crown Court.
The Bidve's son was studying for a micro-electronics postgraduate qualification at Lancaster University after arriving in the UK last September and was spending Christmas with friends in Manchester.
He was on his way from his hotel walking through Ordsall to the Boxing Day sales in Manchester city centre with a group of other Indian students when he was killed.
Stapleton who gave his name as "Psycho" at an earlier court hearing and had a "killer" teardrop tattoo on his face said he had been at a party and then went out to get some food.
He said his friend Ryan Holden was carrying a gun and gave it to him to hold when he decided to approach the group and ask them for the time.
Speaking about the moment he opened fire, Stapleton said: "I raised it in my right hand and then shot the firearm."
Asked by Simon Csoka QC, why he shot the gun, Stapleton responded: "I honestly don't know.
"I don't even know where I shot the guy.
"I just raised my hand and then shot it and ran."
Mr Csoka asked what was going through his mind.
He said: "It just went blank and I just turned round and ran."
Stapleton said how he and Holden ran back to his home where he showered and collected his clothes together.
While there, Ryan called him a "mad guy", Stapleton said.
The following morning they went to another friends house where he saw the news which confirmed a man had been killed.
"How did that make you feel," Mr Csoka asked.
He replied: "Nothing. I didn't think about it."
The court heard that, earlier in the night, one of Stapleton's friends told him his former girlfriend, and mother to his daughter, had cheated on him while they were living together.
Stapleton said this "wound him up" and that he was a "little bit pissed off" and "angry".
He said he would "kill" whoever was responsible, the court heard.
But he admitted that he had no idea who his girlfriend had cheated on him with.
The court was told that the gun belonged to Ryan Holden and that he handed it to Stapleton as they walked along Ordsall Road, with the intention of getting food from KFC.
Stapleton said Holden handed him the gun while he was adjusting his jeans.
That was when he saw Mr Bidve and his friends and when he decided to walk over to them.
Mr Csoka asked what his intention was and he replied: "I honestly can't say. I don't know what my intention was."
The court heard that he asked the group for the time three times before opening fire.
Asked about his mood, he said: "I was not feeling angry and I was not feeling sad. It was just a normal, calm mood."
Stapleton told the court that after the shooting they stashed the gun in the shed at Holden's grandmother's house before they went back to his mother's in Ordsall.
After showering at his house they dumped his clothes next to the bin at his sister's home and then went for breakfast at another friend's and saw the news on television.
After looking at the crime scene and the police activity in Ordsall Lane Stapleton and Holden went to stay in Leigh, Wigan, with another friend where Holden suggested they douse themselves in petrol to get the gun residue off their skin.
They stayed there for a while listening to music and "chilling", the court heard.
Stapleton said he went to bed that night and "slept right the way through".
Asked if he had any feelings the next morning when he realised what had happened, he said: "None."
"I was not thinking about what I had done. I was just feeling completely normal as if nothing had even happened," he said.
He said he briefly tried to think why it happened but there were "no answers".
"So then I just forgot about it. Never thought about it again," he added.
The jury was sent home for the day and the trial will resume tomorrow at 10am.
PA