A HALE man accused of murdering a Cranage cattery owner has described their relationship as 'friendly' and 'casual'.

David Ryan made the comments while giving evidence at his trial at Chester Crown Court on July 2.

Ryan told the court he met 54-year-old Mrs Lee, from Cranage, at the Cinnamon Club, in Bowdon, in September 2010.

He said he would often dance with her and could tell there was an attraction between them as she would 'squeeze his hand' in a way that his other dancing partners would not.

Under questioning from his barrister, Gordon Cole QC, Ryan said he went to Mrs Lee's home to give her a quote for double glazing around three months after meeting her and they began a sexual relationship approximately a month after that.

Ryan told the court he visited Mrs Lee’s home, Parklands, around 20 times after that, driving himself there around twice more and then after that she would pick him up from a road close to his Hale home.

He said they would also meet in car parks on occasion.

When Mr Cole asked Ryan why, in January 2011, he suddenly began calling Mrs Lee from a telephone kiosk, when in the months previously he had called her from his landline and mobile telephones, Ryan replied ‘because I was married’.

He said that, to his knowledge, his wife had never looked at their phone bills, which prompted Justice Richard Henriques to ask why his wife, Karen Ryan, might suddenly notice Diana Lee’s number on their bill after 15 months of not noticing.

Ryan replied: “I just made the conscious decision to stop using my mobile.”

Ryan told the court that he never told Mrs Lee that he was married and she never asked. He also never told her where he lived and did not give her his landline telephone number.

Describing his relationship with Mrs Lee, Ryan said: “It was a relationship that suited us both I suppose is the easiest way to explain it. No commitment, no seriousness in terms of conversations, it was just a friendly relationship.”