Tania Moore was found dead in her VW Polo

Mark Dyche had persuaded a drunk friend Colin Colley, to help him scare Tania Moore but left him in the car before firing the fatal shots.

At Nottingham Crown Court Mr Dyche, of Marston Montgomery, Derbyshire, denies murder and conspiracy to rob Ms Moore.

Colley, 41, has admitted conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

The court had earlier been told that Colley claimed Mr Dyche, 31, subsequently offered him �50,000 to take the blame.

He told a jury that he had been avoiding Mr Dyche after he first asked him to help get back some money from his ex-fianc�e.

I think I said, 'You shouldn't have shot her - no one deserves to be shot' Colin Colley

But on 29 March 2004 he told the court he was drunk when Mr Dyche arrived at his home and persuaded him to join him in his plans to frighten Ms Moore.

He said they went to a farm where Mr Dyche put on a jacket emblazoned with Loughborough Students' Equestrian Team Coach and the name Tania.

The pair allegedly drove to a lay-by on a country lane near Ednaston in Derbyshire and waited until Ms Moore's car appeared and then followed it.

Burnt car

Colley said: "Mark got out of the Nissan... opened the back door, grabbed something out of it and walked to the Polo.

"I lost my bottle. I just heard a bang like a gun, a loud bang. He got back into the car and put the gun behind the driver's seat.

"I called him a stupid twat or something like that. I think I said, 'You shouldn't have shot her - no one deserves to be shot'."

He said Mr Dyche drove away from the murder scene, and later stopped and torched the car.

Dumped gun

Colley was driven back to his home in Stoke-on-Trent where they left the gun, the court was told.

The following day, Colley said he threw the weapon in a canal.

When arrested, he took the police to the murder scene, as well as showing them where he had dumped the gun.

He was on remand in prison when Mr Dyche approached him and offered him money to take the blame for the murder, the court was told.