KILLED BY HIS BEST FRIEND
Murderer considered his victim to be like a brother
POSING for a selfie, they look like any other best mates – but just hours after this picture was taken one of them was dead at the hands of the other.
Murderer Daniel Smith considered Jonathan Carr to be like a brother – but that didn’t stop him plunging a knife into his chest and taking his life in a senseless slaying, before fleeing as he lay dying on his bedroom floor.
As Smith was found guilty of murder and warned he faces a life sentence, images of them together on the night of the killing were released by police.
Jurors at Newcastle Crown Court took just two hours to convict Smith of murder after he had claimed he was acting in self-defence.
The 21-year-old faces a mandatory life sentence and will learn how many years he must serve before he can even be considered for release on parole on Wednesday.
After seeing their loved one’s killer brought to justice, Jonathan’s family released a statement paying tribute to the popular young man with a “heart of gold”.
They said: “Jonny was popular and well liked by his friends. He had a heart of gold and was gorgeous with his friends, helping in any way he could.
“It is such a loss and we miss him every day, his smile and his laugh. It is such a hole in our lives as we will never see him again. He was 21 and had the whole of his life ahead of him.” Jonathan, 21, Smith and Smith’s cousin, Steven Morrison, had been drinking and taking drugs at Jonathan’s home on Mayfair Gardens in Deckham, Gateshead, on the evening of July 31.
Smith and Jonathan then got into a row, during which Smith picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed Jonathan in the chest.
Smith then fled the address and told his mother the next day he thought he might have stabbed Jonathan.
After getting no answer at Jonathan’s flat, his mother took him to a police station, where Smith told officers he wanted to know if his friend was OK.
The court was told how police then forced entry into Jonathan’s home and found him lying dead in the living room.
Smith, of Cotemede, Wardley, Gateshead, a dad-of-one, was then arrested by police and charged with murder.
Following the case, senior investigating officer Det Chief Insp Aelf Sampson said: “This is an awful case that has ultimately robbed the world of a 21-year-old man who had his entire life ahead of him. His family have been left devastated by his death and have been in court every day of the criminal trial.
“I don’t doubt that Daniel Smith cared for Jonathan but he has refused to accept responsibility for his actions that night.
“He stabbed his friend in the heart and then fled the address without raising any alarm, giving him no chance of survival.
“If he loved him like a brother then he would have rung police that evening and handed himself in.
“Now he faces spending the majority of his life behind bars and he will not be around to see his young daughter grow up.
“This has been a tragic case for everyone involved.”
Footage shown during the trial showed Smith in an agitated state in the hour before he killed Jonathan.
He was captured on CCTV heavily intoxicated in a local fish and chip shop, where he was arguing with staff and Mr Morrison.
The pair eventually left the shop but further footage was also shown to the jury of Smith assaulting Mr Morrison.
Both men then went back Jonathan’s flat before leaving the address a short time later. It was in this “10-minute window” that he was killed.
Smith was later seen wandering about alone at which point a member of the public called an ambulance.
He was treated in hospital for facial injuries and he told medical staff at that time that he had been assaulted by Jonathan and Mr Morrison.