JURORS set to decide the fate of two drug dealers accused of gunning down a woman in Abingdon have been told not to let “hype and exaggeration” cloud their judgement.

Paul Keleher QC, defending Billy Johnson, said jurors had been wrongly led to believe Johnson pulled the trigger on the night Kerry Reeves was shot in Thornhill Walk.

He said “desperate efforts” were made during the trial to “talk-up” a feud between Johnson and Craig Pitts, who was by Miss Reeves’ side when she was shot in the face.

In his closing speech at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Mr Keleher said: “It is better that 10 guilty men go free than one innocent person be convicted and locked up for the rest of their life for something they have not done.”

He also said it would be “pretty prejudicial” for jurors to believe evidence given by Curtis Boyce, who claimed Johnson spoke to him about wanting to shoot Miss Reeves months earlier before she died.

Ali Naseem Bajwa QC, representing for co-defendant Charles Noble, firmly told jurors Johnson was the only one who pulled the trigger and shot Miss Reeves on November 3.

He pleaded with jurors not to criticise the 21-year-old for deciding not to take the stand and give evidence during the trial, as was his right.

The defence barrister also urged the jury to acquit Noble, who he said had not assisted Johnson in the shooting or encouraged him.

In his closing speech to a jury of seven women and five men, Mr Bajwa said: “Billy Johnson, when his finger was on that trigger, was acting alone.

“The wrong that was done to Kerry Reeves that night cannot be reversed – it can be made worse, it can be compounded if the loss of Kerry Reeves is accompanied by a wrongful conviction.

“The prosecution case amounts to this, Charles Noble was there. That’s all. That does not make anyone guilty of any crime, let alone murder.”

Johnson, 20, of Ripon Court, Corby, Northamptonshire, and Noble, of Kempton Avenue, Northolt, Ealing, both deny murder. 

Judge Zoe Smith is expected to start summing up the case this morning.

The trial continues.