LEFT FOR DEAD
Murder trial jury told 21-year-old stabbed
MURDER accused Daniel Smith allegedly knifed his pal to death and left him for dead – then alerted police the next day by telling them: “I think I’ve stabbed my friend and want to know if he’s ok”, a court heard.
Prosecutors say Jonathan Carr 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 in his own flat, 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.
It was not until the next day that he told his mum he thought he had stabbed him and wanted to find out if he was alright.
She took him to a police station, which prompted officers to visit Jonathan’s flat in Deckham, Gateshead, and when they forced entry they found his body.
Smith denies murder and the alternative of manslaughter and is being tried by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court.
Opening the case to jurors, Nicholas Lumley QC said: “After a night drinking and taking drugs with his cousin, Steven Morrison, and friend, Jonathan Carr, the defendant Daniel Smith used a knife to stab Jonathan Carr to death.
“He used the knife deliberately
and he did so without good or lawful reason, the prosecution say.
“After Jonathan had been fatally stabbed, the defendant quickly left the scene, not waiting to check whether his friend was alright, knowing full well what he had done to him.”
Jurors were shown CCTV from the evening of July 31 from a takeaway, Frydays, on Split Crow Road, Gateshead. They made their way back to Jonathan’s flat and footage in the street shows Smith punching Mr Morrison, Mr Lumley said.
They spent 10 minutes in Jonathan’s flat before Smith and Mr Morrison came out.
Mr Lumley told the court: “In that 10-minute window Jonathan Carr must have been killed by this defendant.”
Shortly before midnight, Smith was seen wandering about alone and a member of the public said he seemed “in a bit of a state”.
The woman called an ambulance for Smith and his utterances on the way to hospital were recorded on camera in the ambulance around 12.30am on August 1.
Mr Lumley told the court Smith said: “What’s happened is someone hit me”.
Mr Lumley added: “And he mentioned stabbing him. He appeared to say ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’”
Smith was taken to the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Gateshead. By 3.30am he was reporting to hospital staff that he had been assaulted by Jonathan Carr and Steven Morrison, the court heard. A mouth injury was tidied up and he was discharged.
Mr Lumley said word reached Smith’s mother her son might have stabbed somebody and she went to his home. He is said to have told her: “I think I’ve stabbed Ali (a name he knew Jonathan by). I need to see him and see if he’s alright.”
He then broke down and was upset, jurors were told.
Smith’s mum took him to the police station and he said to staff: “I think I’ve stabbed my friend and want to know if he’s ok.”
Jonathan had suffered a single stab wound which went through his left lung and into his aorta, killing him “very quickly indeed”.
Mr Lumley told the jury: “It’s the prosecution case that what he did was a deliberate and unlawful act, stabbing him through the chest for no good reason.
“We don’t suggest he set out to kill him, these things can happen in an instant and that may be what happened here, but happen it did.”
The prosecutor said his defence to murder is he didn’t intend to kill or cause really serious harm and even if he did he was acting in lawful self defence. His defence to manslaughter is reasonable self defence.
Smith, 20, of Cotemede, Wardley, Gateshead, denies murder and the alternative of manslaughter.
The trial continues.