Murder accused did not think injuries ‘serious’
ATEENAGER jointly accused of murdering a man in Newport claims he did not call 999 because he did not think the injuries were “that serious”.
Shaquille Crosdale, 18, is one of four people accused of murdering Jan Jedrzejewski on Keene Street on January 12 and is on trial at Newport Crown Court.
Giving evidence he said: “I’ve known a lot of people get kicked in the head during a fight and just jump straight up.”
Asked by prosecutor Williams Hughes QC why he did not call an ambulance, he replied: “I didn’t think it was that serious.”
Crosdale alleges his older co-defendant Richard Wallace, 43, is responsible. Wallace also denies murder.
He said he saw Wallace “squaring up” for a fight with Mr Jedrzejewski just before 11pm that evening.
The defendant told the jury he heard Wallace say: “I’ll f***ing knock you out.”
Asked if Mr Jedrzejewski had shown any aggression towards anyone at that point, he replied: “He wasn’t saying much – it was his demeanour.”
Crosdale said Wallace “sprinted off” and told the jury he laughed because the older man “looked like an idiot”.
He said he then told Mr Jedrzejewski: “Why don’t you f*** off home? You’re causing a lot of drama. You’re drunk.”
The defendant said: “Next thing, he started piling on towards me. Big steps towards me, staring me dead in the eye.”
In his police interview, he told officers he said to the man: “Swing for me and I’ll whack you.”
Mr Hughes suggested Crosdale was not scared of Mr Jedrzejewski, but the defendant disagreed. He replied: “He started walking towards me, like aggressively. He’s a big man, like. I don’t want to be whacked by a full-grown man. I see him tense his hand.”
Crosdale said he grabbed a nearby piece of wood when he saw Mr Jedrzejewski tense his arm, as he thought he was going to punch him. He said he picked it up with one hand and threw it underarm.
He denied punching Mr Jedrzejewski and, asked if the wood had any effect, he replied: “No, he may as well have laughed at me.”
Crosdale said he later heard a “loud thud” coming from Keene Street and went over “to be nosey”.
The defendant told the jury he went to Wallace’s kitchen and the man told him he had kicked Mr Jedrzejewski.
He said Wallace mimed the action as he “boasted”.
Asked to demonstrate the action to the jury, he said Wallace made a “big effort”, like he was kicking a football hard.
Questioned about why he went to Wallace’s house, he said: “I’ve known him for a number of years.”
Crosdale and his friend Callum Banton, both 18, from Fleetwood Close in Newport, deny murder. Crosdale also denies perverting the course of justice.
A juvenile, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder.
Wallace, from Keene Street, denies murder, and his mother Catherine Coslett, 64, from Valley View in Cwmtillery, denies perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues.