‘He was still alive when I got there, but before I left I saw heart beat monitor stop’

MURDER TRIAL TOLD OF VIOLENCE THAT LED TO DEATH

THE trial of a Swadlincote man who is accused of murder has heard how a witness saw a heart beat monitor “stop” as his friend lay in a garden dying from a stab wound.

The witness, whose identity has been protected by a court order, told the trial how he saw one man alleged to have murdered Byron Griffin produce a machete.

He said another three men came “bursting out” of a block of flats armed with other weapons.

Jordan Fairbrother, 26, of Nelson Street, Swadlincote, is facing the murder charge at Derby Crown Court alongside Dylan Geary, 22, Daniel Lewsley, 32, and Grant James Masterson, 29. They all deny the offence.

The trial has heard how police were called to reports Mr Griffin, 22, of East Leake, was found with two stab wounds in Eyre’s Garden, Ilkeston, at around 12.40pm on Sunday, July 4, last year. He was declared dead later at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.

The witness said he tried to help Mr Griffin but had to retreat as he was “scared for his life”.

The witness said he had been friends with Mr Griffin for a number of years and on the day of the incident the pair had driven from West Bridgford to Ilkeston, picking up three other people, before returning. Prosecutor John Lloyd-jones QC asked the witness: “What happened?” He replied: “Byron got out of the car as if he knew one of them (the gang) and we got out the car to check it was all right.

“It just went from zero to 100, it just happened so quick, within seconds it was kicking off.

“They just started tussling, throwing each other around, the flat doors came open. One of the lads pulled a machete out from behind his back. Byron was trying to get a machete off him.” Mr Lloyd-jones asked: “Were you able to get to Byron?”

The witness replied: “No.” Mr Lloyd-jones asked: “Why was that?” He said: “Because I would have got stabbed. They all came bursting out (of the flats), they all came running out like they were prepared. There was no talking involved, they were swinging whatever weapons they had on them.”

Mr Lloyd-jones asked: “How did you feel about this?” The witness replied: “Scared for my life.”

The prosecutors said: “Did you see Byron (get) stabbed?”

He said: “I didn’t.”

Mr Lloyd-jones said: “Did you see who stabbed him?”

The witness replied: “I didn’t, I saw Byron run down an alleyway.”

Mr Lloyd-jones asked: “When you went to Ilkeston that day, were you armed with weapons?”

He said: “No, none of us were armed with weapons.”

The prosecutor said: “Did you go down a side road and see Byron in a garden?”

The witness replied: “Yes, I saw an ambulance there, he was still alive when I got there but before I left I saw the heart beat monitor stop.”

The trial continues.