THE murder of High Wycombe woman Natasha Derby came down to an old fashioned "who dunnit?" That was the conclusion of prosecutor Michael Wood QC as he prepared to sum up the case against the accused Dwayne Haughton.

The evidence was not strong enough to prove Haughton had carried out the shooting last September.

This was despite Haughton's fingerprint being found on the bullet.

Fingerprint experts had put doubt in the minds of those who thought this may be conclusive as it was possible that the gunman could have touched the bullet without leaving a print. So the case came down to whether the jury believed Haughton or the prosecution.

On the fifth day of the trial, at Reading Crown Court, the defence put forward its side of the story. The best man to tell the defence case for counsel Anthony Evans QC was Haughton himself.

The Jamaican, nicknamed Vicious (a name he claims came from a TV show and was given as a child by friends), took the stand for nearly four hours.

During the most exhilarating day of the trial he told how his friend Reston Braham had fired the shot that killed Natasha. The police though had disagreed and ruled out a link with Mr Braham earlier in the trial.

Haughton, an illegal immigrant, said he had not told police earlier because believed he would be killed in Jamaica for being a "grass".

Prosecutor Michael Wood challenged his story. Under cross examination Haughton lost his cool. He snapped: "Now I have been charged with murder, I am telling the truth even if it will cost me my life."

The pressure was starting to show on Haughton as he pleaded his innocence in the witness box. As the court took a break Haughton was offered a glass of water after being overcome by the questioning.

Members of Natasha's family were also in the public gallery and kept their eyes fixed on Haughton as he passed them on the way back to the dock.

With a not guilty verdict returned on Haughton a man who admitted to handling the bullet which killed Natasha and also not stopping the man who he alleged did the shooting from going into the dance the family must now go through the ordeal of knowing that whoever killed Natasha is still at large.