Man accused of Anuj Bidve's murder smirked after shooting, court hears Kiaran Stapleton, who admits killing Anuj Bidve but denies the murder charge, smirked or laughed after the shooting, Manchester crown court heard. Photograph: LNP Anuj Bidve's killer smirked or laughed as he ran off after shooting the Indian student on a street in Salford on Boxing Day, a court has heard. Manchester crown court was also told that Kiaran Stapleton, 21, who labelled himself "Psycho Stapleton" at an earlier hearing, had a teardrop tattoo inked on his face two days after the shooting, which can signify that the wearer has killed someone. Bidve and friends were en route from their hotel to go sales shopping in Manchester city centre in the early hours of Boxing Day last year when Stapleton, who was also with a friend, approached them and asked what the time was, the jury heard. One of the group answered that it was 1.30am and "without warning, Stapleton produced a gun, put it to the head of Anuj Bidve and fired a shot, which killed him," said Brian Cummings QC, for the prosecution. Anuj Bidve immediately fell to the ground, fatally injured. The gunman smirked or laughed and ran off," Cummings said. Bidve, 23, a post-graduate electronics student at Lancaster University, and his eight friends, who were from India and Pakistan, had considered going to Edinburgh or Glasgow for Christmas but chose Manchester instead, the court heard. At a hearing on 1 June, Stapleton, from Ordsall, Salford, admitted blame for Bidve's death and pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The prosecution rejected the plea and the case proceeded to a murder trial. The defence is likely to call expert psychological and psychiatric evidence during the hearing. Cummings said staff at the tattoo parlour remembered Stapleton's visit because of the nature of the tattoo. He said: "This was pointed out to Kiaran Stapleton, in an effort to ensure that this was really what he wanted, and he said words to the effect that he had killed his goldfish, did that count?" Cummings said: "I will ask you to keep in mind as we go through evidence in this trial that Kiaran Stapleton's eventual admission that he is the killer came at an advanced stage of proceedings, and only after a significant body of evidence had already been gathered against him. For the avoidance of doubt, the prosecution case is that Kiaran Stapleton intended to kill. Cummings said Stapleton had made no admissions when he was first interviewed by police as a suspect. After being charged with murder, and as time went on, he admitted he was the person who shot and killed Bidve, the court was told. The friends arrived at their hotel on Christmas Eve and at about 11.30pm the following day some of them decided that they wanted to go shopping, Cummings said. They set off after midnight to get a place in the queues and used a GPS phone to guide them. Their route took them along Ordsall Lane in the direction of Regent Road. Walking in groups of two and three, they became aware of two men walking in the opposite direction. "As the two males got nearer to them, one of them crossed the road diagonally in their direction, leaving the other male alone on the far side," Cummings said. The man who was with Stapleton was Ryan Holden, who was arrested on 28 December. The defendant was arrested the following day. Holden told police he was afraid for his own safety and that of his family, but began to answer questions after he was given assurances, Cummings said. Holden's status changed from suspect to prosecution witness. Holden said his cousin, Chelsea Holden, had been in a long-term relationship with Stapleton and the couple had a child together but had split up. The prosecutor said the two men spent the hours before the shooting drinking with friends. When someone mentioned that Chelsea Holden had slept with another man while she and Stapleton were living together, the court heard, Stapleton became angry and said: "If I see him, I'll kill him." At midnight the pair left a house to go to a nearby fast-food restaurant, which was shut. Cummings described how Stapleton took Holden's hat and put it on. The defendant noticed a group of people on the opposite side of the road who were "not dressed like Salford people" and "seemed to be having a laugh," the prosecutor said. As they drew almost level, Kiaran Stapleton said to Ryan Holden: 'Wait here a minute.' Kiaran Stapleton then walked across the road. Holden said he saw him raise his arm and make a gesture as though he was asking the time, before moving back a little and raising his arm, and he saw him stretch it out as if he was going to shoot. Cummings said Holden then heard a loud shot. He also heard a lot of screaming and then Kiaran Stapleton ran back towards him, shouting 'run!' - but he was already running. The court was told that Holden said he had not known before the shot was fired that his friend had a gun. The trial continues and is expected to last up to four weeks.