Leeds Crown Court heard on Monday (April 21) that versions of the Yorkshire Bank statement for the joint account used by the 73-year-old and David Hill – who shared a greetings card and toy stall at Castleford indoor market – were found with figures "cut out" and "correction fluid applied" in a plastic bag in his car.

The prosecution claims Hill bludgeoned the grandma-of-five to death after a confrontation at her bungalow in Redhill Gardens on Wednesday September 27 2006.

It is alleged that he was in debt by more than £20,000 and had been secretly taking money from a joint business account he shared with market trader Mrs Wright to keep his creditors at bay until he and his wife Maxine received £135,000 they were expecting from his late father-in-law's estate.

Hill, 48, of Lakeside Meadows, Pontefract, claims he found her body and denies murder.

The court heard that police found two "altered" statements in Mrs Wright's handbag at her home during their investigation into her death.

Ian Terry, a financial expert, said the statements – which were originally delivered to Hill's home address – had been "changed" to give the impression they were sent to Mrs Wright's bungalow and that "transactions had taken place which had not".

He also said that Hill had written a number of cheques from the joint account and paid them into his personal account with Yorkshire Bank and had stopped some cheques that had been issued to a supplier.

He said an "alteration" on a statement issued on September 1 "inflated" the account balance from £909.49 to £1909.49.

Mr Terry told the jury that between July and August 2006, there were two "paying-in discrepancies" where the figure shown on the stub of the paying-in book was £100 more than the amount actually paid into the account.

On August 21, a paying in slip showed "M Wright" paid £640 into the joint account, but the stub in the book showed £740 had been deposited.

Mr Terry said that although the name on the paying-in slip was Mrs Wright's, the bank may not have asked for proof of identification.

He said Mrs Wright's copy of the bank statement, issued on September 1, showed she had endorsed the entry with an x.

Mr Terry told the court the plastic bag found in Hill's car contained "altered" versions of bank statements dated August 1, September 1 and September 19 2006.

He said the bag also contained notes containing handwritten figures and a glue stick was found.

Statements from the account were originally sent to Mrs Wright, but a request was made to the bank to send them to Hill's address in July 2006.

Mr Terry told the court that by September 25 2006, Hill had five credit cards and had taken out two personal loans – leaving him with a debt of £20,356.63.

He said there was no evidence he had failed to make the minimum repayments required.

Proceeding.

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