A MAN accused of killing a Cranage cattery owner he was having an affair with had £55,000 in cash saved in drawers and under his wardrobe, he has claimed.

David Ryan, of Byrom Street, Hale, was giving evidence for the second day running at his trial at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, July 2.

He is accused of bludgeoning 54-year-old Diana Lee, of Cranage, to death, mutilating her body with a chain saw and lighting four fires at her home in an attempt to destroy the evidence.

The prosecution has previously claimed that Mrs Lee had been giving Ryan large sums of money.

Ryan told the court that his current wife, Karen, had given him around £60,000 when they first began a relationship and her parents had also given them between £55,000 and £95,000 during the course of their marriage.

The accused told people the money was to pay off debts and legal fees he had accrued during a custody battle with his first wife – but he was actually siphoning large amounts off to put in a ‘pot’ of savings he stored in his house without his wife’s knowledge.

Under questioning from his barrister, Gordon Cole QC, Ryan said he had kept the money secret from his wife due to his bad experience in his first marriage and found it difficult to trust people.

When Mr Cole asked him why he had not used the money to prevent his home and his Mercedes 4x4 from being repossessed, Ryan said even if he put the money he had saved into the house he still might end up losing it anyway.

He added: “I tend to be quite superstitious about certain things, I just didn’t have a good feeling about staying there. It had been quite an upsetting time.”

Mr Cole asked Ryan why he began spending large amounts of money when he was heavily in debt, but he said he began spending large amounts of money in autumn 2011.

He said he had become very depressed because of a court order preventing him from seeing his son and after witnessing a young girl die in a car accident, which had ‘shaken him up’ badly.

He said when his wife asked where he had suddenly obtained the money from, he told her ‘don’t worry about it’.

“I’ve always been a very private person, even within marriage, that’s how I deal with things,” he added.

Mr Cole asked his client if he had ever received money from Diana Lee.

Ryan said: “Not at all, apart from the redecoration and jobs that I did.”

David Ryan denies killing Diana Lee.

The trial continues.