THE girlfriend of a man accused of murder told a court yesterday she was concerned for his safety when he went to do a drug deal.

Karl Drummond, 37, of Attlee Court, Shahid Rafiq, 37, of Bryn-yr- Ysgol and George Glover, 40, of Graham Court, all Caerphilly, are on trial at Cardiff Crown Court charged with murdering and conspiring to rob Newport father, Tony Singh, 24, on November 11, 2010.

All three deny the charges.

Yesterday Nina Sayer, Drummond’s girlfriend, told the court she was concerned for his safety when he, Rafiq and Glover, went to Newport to track down the drug dealers who had duped them earlier that day.

She said after they failed to get their money back and were stopped by the police after leaving the drug dealer’s house, Drummond rang her and said Rafiq had told him he’d been badly beaten up during a drug deal a few weeks before.

The court heard that after the men left the house, Rafiq arranged to meet Mr Singh to get some drugs.

Miss Sayer said she was concerned for Drummond’s safety as Rafiq was “hanging back” and she feared that Drummond was going to meet Mr Singh alone.

The court heard when Drummond, Rafiq and Glover returned to Drummond’s flat, where Miss Sayer was waiting, they told her there had been an “altercation” with Mr Singh, who had punched Drummond in the face.

She said she was told Drummond hit Mr Singh and then Rafiq hit him as well, but no-one was badly injured in the incident and Mr Singh walked away.

Miss Sayer said Drummond was never violent towards her or hit her during their relationship.

Proceeding