JURORS heard a massive bang as CCTV video illustrated the shotgun blast

that has seen York psychotherapist Heather Stephenson-Snell charged with murder.

The 12 men and women watched and listened intently at Manchester Crown

Court as they were shown sections of a video, taped by a homeowner close to Holland Street, in Radcliffe, near Manchester, said to be of the time when 43-year-old Robert Wilkie died.

Stephenson-Snell, 46, of Crombie Avenue, York, is charged with the murder

of Mr Wilkie, who died from a single gunshot wound outside his home on November 1, last year.

The prosecution alleges Stephenson-Snell donned a Scream mask and was

armed with a sawn-off shotgun in an effort to kill Diane Lomax, but instead shot

Mr Wilkie after he confronted her in the street.

The court was told the footage was taped on a CCTV system by Jane Heather Smith, of Holland Court, whose house overlooks the property of Ms Lomax.

As it was pitch black, nothing could be seen, but the jury could hear a person rapping repeatedly on the door of Ms Lomax's home.

Later, they heard the sounds of raised, but muffled voices and, shortly afterwards, a loud bang as the gun went off.

Almost immediately, there was the sound of a man's voice followed by screams from at least two women.

The prosecution told the court that the incident, from the last knock on Ms Lomax's door to the bang, had been just over two minutes.

Earlier, ballistics expert Paul Oldham told the court that Mr Wilkie had been shot at close range.

He said: "The shot was fired at greater than 18 inches, but less than six feet away from the victim's wound site."

He agreed with prosecution counsel Charles Chruszcz that the pattern of Mr Wilkie's wound was consistent with the gun having been fired from three feet away.

Mr Oldham said shotgun cartridges found by police in the back of Stephenson-Snell's car when she was stopped in the early hours of November 1 were of the same type as those found in property, said to belong to her, at the house of Paul Walker, in George Street, Selby.

Defending Stephenson-Snell, counsel Ben Nolan focused on a harness that was wrapped around the shotgun.

Mr Nolan said the harness, which pulled on the trigger, left open the possibility that the shotgun could be fired accidentally in the event of a struggle. Mr Oldham agreed with that possibility.

Stephenson-Snell denies the murder of Mr Wilkie and the attempted murder of Ms Lomax.

The trial continues.

Updated: 09:53 Thursday, September 09, 2004