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Getaway car was stolen three days before Rawlins murder

David Cox is accused of the premeditated gun murder of Raymond (Yankee) Rawlins.

A getaway car allegedly used in the shooting murder of Raymond (Yankee) Rawlins was stolen three days before in the 42 gang’s neighbourhood, a jury heard.Prosecutor Cindy Clarke shared the information with the agreement of John Perry QC, the defence lawyer for a man on trial accused of the shooting, David Cox. The jury also heard from a detective how a revolver was found four months later, in bushes on East Gate Lane, Pembroke.Mr Rawlins, 47, was shot dead at 12.23am on August 9, 2010 as he walked into a friend’s birthday party at the Spinning Wheel nightclub on Court Street, Pembroke. He suffered 16 bullet wounds.The man whose birthday it was, Michael Parsons, knew both Mr Rawlins and Mr Cox. He told the jury on Thursday that he recognised Mr Cox to be one of two gunmen allegedly involved in the slaying.He said Mr Cox was wearing a rain jacket with the hood concealing his face, but he recognised his eyes. He did not see the second alleged gunman.Prosecutor Takiyah Burgess told the trial in her opening speech on Monday that evidence may come out in the trial that Mr Cox is a member of the 42 gang and that their rivals Parkside hang out on Court Street.Yesterday, Ms Clarke said a green motor car, for which she specified the licence plate, is owned by a man named Raymond Dill. Another man, Edmund Lightbourne, borrowed the car on August 5, 2010.“That car was stolen from Edmund Lightbourne around midnight on August 6, 2010 in an area frequented by the 42nd gang,” she told the jury.“The defendant in this case is not implicated in the theft of that vehicle.”The trial heard on Monday from forensics officer Jewel Hayward that the green car was found behind the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Glebe Road, Pembroke, later on the day of the shooting.The trial also heard yesterday from forensics officer Steven Palmer. He explained that on December 22, 2010, at about 3.10pm, he attended East Gate Lane, where a black Timberland drawstring bag was found in bushes. Inside the bag was a red cut-off cotton sleeve wrapped around a black revolver.The eight women and two men of the jury later visited the scene of the shooting and East Gate Lane, accompanied by police and the judge and lawyers in the case.Mr Cox, of Club Road, Smith’s, elected not to go on the site visit. He’s the only person on trial and denies charges of premeditated murder and using a firearm to commit murder. The case continues.