Extraordinary scenes in court as jury shown gang rap videos
A JURY has been told a teenager who is accused of stabbing to death Benjamin Orton in a Swadlincote alleyway was being hunted by the man who died.
It comes as the jury watched two rap videos featuring members of the D11 gang which mentioned stabbing the teen who is on trial accused of murdering Mr Orton.
In extraordinary scenes, courtroom 4 at Derby Crown Court was played a video called Not Commercial by the Swadlincote-based gang which made reference to the 16-year-old on trial, talking about “shanking them, push them and twist them” – which the jury was told was a reference to stabbing.
A second video made further reference to the 16-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, talking about “catching” him up in Eureka Park or Midland Road, in Swadlincote, saying he ran so fast “I think he beat Usain Bolt’s tries” – meaning he ran away fast from the gang, the court was told.
The 16-year-old, who is now 17, is on trial accused of killing Mr Orton at The Pipeworks, in Swadlincote, on June 12 this year by stabbing him multiple times. He is also accused of the attempted murder of Mr Orton’s friend, 20-year-old Joe Mcmullen. He denies the charges, claiming his actions were in self defence.
His two co-accused, also both aged 17, deny the same charges. One of the 17-year-olds also denies a charge of assisting an offender by disposing a knife, clothing and a phone. They also cannot be identified for legal reasons.
The 16-year-old has admitted a charge of possession of a knife. He stabbed Mr Orton 13 times, and his friend five times, the court has been told.
The 16-year-old’s defence barrister, Michael Auty QC, also told the jury former Pingle School pupil Mr Orton, aged 17, and from Castle Gresley, appeared in a second video played in court
in which he encouraged a person to come round with a large knife.
In his closing statement before the jury members retires to consider their verdicts, Mr Auty said Benjamin Orton “was hunting” his client while Mr Mcmullen wore gang colours.
During the incident which left Mr Orton dead from stab wounds, Mr Mcmullen had been carrying a knuckle duster and wearing a red bandana – the colours of the D11 gang. Mr Orton had a knife, he said.
The court heard that Mr Orton and the 16-year-old had once been school friends before a fall out, the jury heard.
Prosecutor Peter Joyce QC told the jury in his closing statement that the 16-year-old had received a conditional caution for beating Mr Orton previously. The teen later sent a text to Mr Orton saying: “I am the bully, you
are the weakling. Chat s***, get banged.”
Mr Joyce said: “That is the sort of guy this [16-year-old] is.”
He also spoke of Mr Orton’s character during the incident.
He told the jury: “Mr Mcmullen said, ‘Ben was not a fighter. [Seconds before he was stabbed] he looked like he had nothing in him. He just looked pure white’.
“This is the boy who was backing away down the hill, trying to keep them back by shouting he had a knife. He wasn’t a fighter.
“The 16-year-old [later told police] ‘I never had a knife’ but you know he was lying through his teeth because it wasn’t until the start of the trial that he admitted possession of a knife,” said Mr Joyce.
He told the court: “They [the three defendants] acted as a team at the time of the killing. They ran away after. They gathered together again. They all got rid of their clothes.
“How well lit was Wragg Passage? It was well lit, it was mid summer. When you watch the CCTV you can see very early that the 16-year-old has a knife. You can see it and so can the two co-defendants. Any pretence they couldn’t see it is rubbish.”
Defending his client, Mr Auty questioned the need for Mr Mcmullen and Mr Orton to go down Wragg Passage. Mr Mcmullen previously told the court he wanted to ask someone for a cigarette paper, but CCTV shows Mr Orton smoking.
He also asked why Mr Mullen was wearing ‘gang colours’ [the red bandana]. He said: “What need was there to be wearing gang colours? Ben and Joe had no reason to be dressed and armed if they were going to Mr Mcmullen’s girlfriend’s house. They had no reason to go down that alley. The reason Joe gave was a lie.
“Who was hunting who? Ben and Joe weren’t going to the girl’s house that night, they were hunters and the 16-year-old was the prey.”
Mr Auty said that in the months before the killing, the D11 gang had made the 16-year-old’s life “hell”.
He also alleged Mr Orton had robbed a person of an expensive coat at a party in Linton, in South Derbyshire.
The jury was also told a girl later gave a statement to police saying that just two weeks before his death, Benjamin Orton had approached her and a few friends in Bass’ Crescent Park, in Castle Gresley, and told a member of the group, “I thought you were my man [the 16-year-old]. I was about to wet you up.”
The court was told that “to wet you up” means to stab.
Mr Auty told the court: “Benjamin routinely carried knives. In the mind of a 16-year-old you would find that would have an exponentially great impact.”
He later asked the jury: “Can you be sincerely sure that in his mind with the information from the background? Can you rule out self defence in these circumstances?”
The trial continues.