Marian Bates co-owned the Time Centre

Peter Williams, 18, told Stafford Crown Court a witness was mistaken when she identified him as a passenger on a scooter which stopped outside the shop.

The prosecution alleges Mr Williams helped a gunman to escape from the Time Centre after the shooting.

He denies murdering Marian Bates, 64, in Nottingham on 30 September 2003.

Mr Williams also denies conspiracy to rob the store, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a firearm with intent.

'Not present'

The jury at Stafford Crown Court heard the reactions to police interviews of each of the four defendants in the trial as the prosecution case against them was concluded.

The court heard Mr Williams, of no fixed abode, presented three prepared statements to officers after he was arrested on 21 January, 2004.

In the first, he stated: "I was not present and did not enter the Time Centre, Arnold on September 30, 2003."

Marian Bates died in an armed robbery at the shop

After being told his fingerprints were found on the scooter, he added that he had been asked to move a blue moped on the morning of the raid and had once been a passenger on a similar vehicle.

Dean Betton, 23, and Craig Moran, 22, made no comment during police interviews, but Mr Moran also prepared a statement in which he denied taking part in both the murder and armed robbery.

Mrs Bates' husband, Victor, who told the court how he watched his wife being shot dead, has listened to the evidence from the public gallery throughout the trial.

Mr Moran, from Raymede Drive, Bestwood, and Mr Betton, from Broxtowe, Nottingham, each deny conspiracy to rob the store on Front Street.