Drugs turf war ended in murder, court told
A“turf war” over the sale of hard drugs in the north Wales resort of Rhyl ended up in a vicious knife attack in which one man was murdered and two others were injured, it was alleged yesterday afternoon.
Mold Crown Court heard that the deceased, Mark Roy Mason, 48, a father of two, of Rhyl, received more than 20 stab wounds.
Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC alleged the attack in the car park of Home Bargains, in Rhyl, was revenge for an attack earlier on the same day.
Defendants James Davies, 21, of Moscow Drive, Liverpool, Anthony Baines, 31, of Sutcliffe Street, and Mark Ennis, 31, of Bedford Road, deny murder and maliciously wounding Justin Tricket and Sam Illidge, with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, on the same night.
The jury was told that a fourth man, Jake Melia, 21, of Eastbourne Road, Liverpool, had admitted all charges.
Opening the trial, Mr Lewis said that at 7.22pm Mr Mason was “repeatedly and fatally stabbed” while a front-seat passenger in a van in the Home Bargains car park.
The two others were attacked and stabbed but their wounds were less severe than those suffered by Mr Mason.
He said that the three defendants and Melia were responsible for launching “that dreadful and murderous attack” on Mr Mason and his friends.
The four had travelled together in a black BMW, which followed the van into the car park. The attack, he said, was as a result of a “turf war” which had erupted between two rival gangs over the control of the drugs trade in the Rhyl area.
He said that the defendants and Melia were members of The Pensarn Crew, sometimes called Steve’s Crew.
Mr Mason and the others were members of Mark’s Crew or Marco’s Crewe – although it was not suggested that Mr Mason was the leader or lent his name to the gang.
“The fatal attack appears to have been an act of retribution on the part of the defendants and Melia.
“Earlier the same day two men attempted to attack James Davies and Melia as they were dealing drugs in The Cob area of Rhyl,” he said.
Mr Lewis said that on October 27 James Davies and Jake Melia were dealing drugs in an area of Rhyl known as The Cob, near The Marine Lake.
He said that Mark Mason, the deceased, and Sam Illidge, were probably involved in an earlier incident when an attempt was made to attack them. It was their suspected involvement in that incident that promoted the defendants’ later revenge attack, he alleged.
Mr Lewis said: “It matters not, we submit, which of the defendants attacked which of the victims, because they were “in it together”.”
The trial continues.