A drug dealer accused of ‘masterminding’ the torture and murder of his ‘love rival’ today claimed the victim’s girlfriend sent him a video showing herself dancing naked and asking for sex.
John Belfield, 31, said he responded by sending a screenshot of Demi-Lee Driver’s clip to Thomas Campbell – but insisted he ‘did not want any trouble’.
Days later 38-year-old Mr Campbell’s bloodied body was found bound in extra-strength duct tape and dressed in only a pair of socks in his own home.
Prosecutors claim that Belfield was the ‘driving force’ behind the deadly ambush in July 2022, fuelled by jealousy over Ms Driver – with whom he has previously been in a relationship – and a desire to steal from the victim.
He ‘fled’ the country after the killing and his ‘right-hand’ man was later convicted of murdering Mr Campbell.
The dead man’s ex-wife Coleen was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob after providing crucial details about his movements before the gang pounced, jurors have been told.
Belfield himself was later extradited back from Suriname in South America and is now on trial for murder.
Giving evidence in his defence today, the father-of-one said he had received the explicit video from Ms Driver.
Thomas Campbell, 38, was tortured and murdered in his own home in Mossley, Greater Manchester in July 2022, a jury has been told, before his near-naked body was dumped in the hallway
Coleen Campbell (pictured) shared crucial details about her former husband’s movements with Belfield before his killing
John Belfield, 31, (pictured) is accused of being the ringleader behind the plot. He denies being at the scene and has pleaded not guilty to murder and conspiracy to rob
He also admitted swapping messages with Coleen Campbell – but said he found her ‘good looking’ and the exchange could ‘potentially’ have led to a sexual relationship.
Belfield said he informed fellow drug dealer Mr Campbell about the video sent by Ms Driver because he wanted to be ‘transparent’ with him.
‘It was not a good idea for me to get into conflict with Tom Campbell,’ he added.
‘Tom’s a lot bigger and stronger than me.’
Taking to the witness box at Manchester Crown Court, Belfield said before the killing he had earned around £2,000-a-week dealing cannabis and cocaine.
Questioned by his barrister Richard Wright KC, he said he had known Mr Campbell for about ten years, saying he was ‘higher up than me’ in the drugs trade.
‘I have never had any trouble with Tom Campbell in my life,’ he insisted.
Belfield insisted that his contact with Ms Campbell over Instagram in the run-up to the murder had nothing to do with a plan to rob her ex-husband or being ‘jealous’ about his relationship with Ms Driver.
The 38-year-old, pictured with Coleen on holiday, was discovered by shocked neighbours
Coleen Campbell was among those previously convicted in connection with Thomas Campbell’s death
He found Ms Campbell ‘good-looking’ and felt there was a possibility they could have sex.
Belfield said he wanted to speak to Mr Campbell ‘because his ex-wife had added me on Instagram and about how his current partner was behaving’.
‘It was just about Demi because a week before she was asking me on Facetime to go around and sleep with her,’ he added.
‘Demi had told me she was seeing him.
‘I did not really care. It was irrelevant to me.’
Belfield said he ‘definitely’ did not want to rekindle his relationship with Ms Driver, adding that the feeling was ‘mutual’.
‘I just wanted to tell Tom,’ he added.
‘I did not want any trouble with him. I just wanted to be transparent before anything came out about his ex-wife.
Coleen Campbell is pictured outside Manchester Crown Court during an earlier hearing on a different matter in 2019
‘His current partner was asking me to sleep with her and he could have an issue with that if I did.
‘These woman were making him look a bit silly.
‘I felt he thought I was trying to cause trouble but I was just telling him the truth.’
He said he sent Mr Campbell the screen shot of Ms Driver dancing naked ‘to prove I was not lying’.
‘I was not trying to antagonise him. I thought I was doing the right thing.
‘I was not jealous of him.’
He said Mr Campbell was ‘not happy’ and told him not to speak to either woman.
But Belfield said he immediately rang Coleen Campbell to tell her what her ex-husband had said.
He denied being part of any plan to rob the victim of his drugs but admitted that Ms Campbell had told her the kind of places he kept his stash.
‘I wanted to steal them with no comeback on me,’ he said
Reece Steven (left), 29, was convicted of murder and was jailed for life with a minimum of 37 years whilst Stephen Cleworth (right), 38, was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 12 years
Belfield was asked by Mr Wright about messages he sent to Ms Driver days before the killing telling her ‘You are mine’ and ‘You belong to me Demi-Lee for ever.’
He said the string of crying/laughing face emojis in the messages meant he was being sarcastic and the thread was being ‘twisted against me’.
Belfield has admitted he took part in alleged ‘recces’ of Mr Campbell’s home in Mossley, Greater Manchester before the killing and helping disguise the van used in the ambush afterwards.
But he denies being part of the team which placed a tracking device on Mr Campbell’s VW van, or being one of the men who bought items used in his torture.
The court has heard the ‘horrific’ killing was the result of ‘very careful planning by a team of highly organised criminals’.
Jurors have been told that at a 2023 trial Belfield’s ‘right-hand man’ Reece Steven was convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob.
Stephen Cleworth, from Heywood, who acted as a driver, was convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.
He was responsible for planting the tracker on Mr Campbell’s vehicle and assisting with surveillance although he was not present during the murder.
The prosecution case is that Steven, Belfield and a third unknown man were all present when Mr Campbell was tortured to death.
Belfield, of no fixed address, denies murder and conspiracy to rob.
The trial continues.
