Accused’s mum says victim was ‘like a brother’

MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER OF FRIEND WAS BEHAVING ‘ERRATICALLY’

MURDER accused Daniel Smith’s mum told a court he was acting “erratically” hours after he allegedly killed the “lovely well-mannered” pal he treated like a brother.

Smith is accused of murdering Jonathan Carr at his home in Gateshead by stabbing him in the chest, which he denies.

Giving evidence from behind a screen at Newcastle Crown Court, Smith’s mum, Julie Eaton, said on the morning of August 1, she got a phone call from her dad to say her son may have been assaulted and wanted to see her. Mrs Eaton said her mother gave her a lift to Smith’s home and when she got there, he was lying on a camp bed in the living room with a quilt over him.

She told jurors: “I noticed his face was all swollen and cut. He was intoxicated and became agitated.

“He said he thought he had stabbed somebody and I said could it have been Ali (Jonthan’s nickname), and he jumped out of the camp bed.

“I asked what he had been doing and he said ‘I think I’ve stabbed somebody.’ I don’t think he really knew who it was.

“I had been told Ali might have been stabbed, I had a Facebook message.”

Asked about Jonathan, Mrs Eaton said: “I had met Ali six or seven times. He was lovely, well-mannered.”

She added: “When Daniel jumped out of bed he picked a Stanley blade up.

“He said he had been waiting for me all morning and I took a step back and I pushed my mam back as well. He said he was going to slit his throat.

“I took a step back because he was so unpredictable. I didn’t know what he was going to do next. I told him to put the blade down and he put it straight on the fireplace.

“He was frantic, trying to get dressed, saying he needed to see if Ali was OK. He was putting clothes on and taking them off and putting other clothes on. He was erratic. He was upset, he was crying.”

Mrs Eaton said her son also kept saying “Have I done something, have I done something”.

He put on a hooded Adidas top which she noticed had blood on it and was dirty, she said.

She also noticed a T-shirt on the floor which had blood on it, the court heard.

She said she agreed she and her mum would take him to Jonathan’s flat to check on him on the condition that he went straight to the police station afterwards, and he agreed.

During the journey, he rang the mother of his child saying he would never see his daughter again but loved them both, Mrs Eaton said.

At Jonathan’s home in Deckham, Gateshead, Mrs Eaton knocked on the door but got no reply while her son stayed in the car. They then went to Gateshead police station, where Mrs Eaton reported that her son had stabbed someone the night before.

After a wait that “seemed like a very long time”, a police officer came and spoke to them.

Mrs Eaton said Smith said “I’m going to jail, aren’t I?” before asking the police officer if they had checked local hospitals for Jonathan.

She said she was there when he was arrested on suspicion of murder and confirmed he said “Is he dead? Is he dead?”

Under cross-examination by Jason Pitter QC, for Smith Mrs Eaton confirmed her son and Jonathan were “the closest of friends” and that “they acted as brothers” and Smith “cared deeply” about Jonathan.

Prosecutors say Jonathan was murdered during a “10-minute window” during a night socialising with Smith and another man. It is claimed Smith stabbed the 21-year-old in the chest, the wound penetrating his lung and aorta and quickly leading to death.

The prosecution allege that after delivering the fatal blow, Smith quickly left Jonathan’s home without raising the alarm.

Smith, 20, of Cotemede, Wardley, Gateshead, denies murder and the alternative of manslaughter.

The trial continues.