Murder accused ‘answered victim’s phone and laughed’
ONE of the alleged killers of a teenager answered his victim’s phone after the “merciless” murder and laughed as he told the caller, “Your boy’s dead now”, a court heard yesterday.
Seven people are accused of the “swift, bloody” murder of Harry Baker, which saw the 17-year-old repeatedly stabbed and his body stripped.
He was found dead by dock staff arriving for work at Barry Intermodal Terminal in Wimborne Road in the seaside town shortly before 6am on August 28 last year.
Ryan Palmer, Peter McCarthy, Raymond Thompson, Leon Clifford, Lewis Evans, Leon Symons and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are on trial charged with his murder. They all deny the charge.
Continuing his opening of the case at Newport Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Paul Lewis QC said that after the alleged murder, Natasha Allt, who knew Harry, tried to ring him.
“Harry Baker didn’t answer,” said Mr Lewis. “He was already dead. But Leon Symons did.
“He had Harry Baker’s phone. He was laughing in that call and he said to her, ‘Your boy’s dead now. You
ain’t finding him’.”
Harry, from Rumney, Cardiff, was lying face-down on the ground between a storage tank and a bin when he was found and was wearing only boxer shorts and socks.
Pathologist Dr Deryk James found nine sharp force injuries including stabs and slashes, the court was told, and there were injuries to the head, face, neck, body and limbs.
Prosecutors said the 16-year-old defendant told a family member he had been in Barry with Symons and Clifford.
“He claimed they had been jumped by Harry Baker and his mates, who had pulled knives on them. He described how Harry Baker and his friends had run off and been chased to an industrial area near the docks,” Mr Lewis told the jury.
The court heard he went on to say Harry, who was 5ft 8ins tall and weighed about 10st 5lbs, had been “stuck against a fence” and Clifford or Symons had spat on him.
Prosecutors said the boy then described how he had later run off from the scene with Symons and Clifford.
Mr Lewis said: “We suggested that from what he said, he must have been present within the compound, notwithstanding the CCTV doesn’t show him entering or leaving. He could not have seen the things he described unless he was actually at the scene.”
Symons was arrested in Ely, Cardiff, on September 2. Prosecutors said his arrest was filmed on a bodyworn camera.
The court heard Symons said: “I was there bro’. I know what happened. I’m just saying I was at the scene. I know what happened.”
Symons stated he, Clifford, McCarthy and the juvenile had been present. He described what happened as “a drug deal that had gone wrong”.
He said Clifford threw away his knife at the scene.
He added: “He didn’t deserve it, that little kid.”
McCarthy was arrested at home and said to police: “I was in bed with my missus. She is my alibi.”
Mr Lewis said: “The CCTV proves otherwise.”
When Evans was arrested he told police he was the only one who drove the Nissan Juke.
He said he had been a user of crack cocaine for five years and bought the drug from local youths. He said at about midnight three “lads” he bought drugs from went to his house and asked him to drive them to the Nisa store. He agreed to do so.
He then received a call from a number he bought drugs from and was asked to pick them up from Cardiff Road.
Evans said he was eventually told to go to the docks. He denied he had seen anything of the incident.
Prosecutors said a large kitchen knife was found in the undergrowth close to Harry’s body. It had his blood on it and came from the block in the kitchen of Evans’ home.
Junior prosecutor James Wilson talked the jury through footage from Wheelie Smart in Cardiff Road in Barry from 12.13am on the night of the incident.
The court heard the 16-year-old was seen wearing a puffer jacket walking in the centre of the road.
Mr Wilson said: “He appears to be carrying a large knife in his right hand and he breaks into a run.”
Clifford was seen running on the pavement then McCarthy entered the frame, followed by Palmer, who crossed the road. Symons was seen to overtake Palmer. Thompson was also seen.
Clifford, 22, who does not have a fixed address, accepts stabbing Mr Baker. He admits manslaughter but denies murder. The other defendants all deny murder.
Prosecutors allege they acted as part of “a gang”, sharing a common intention Mr Baker should die or suffer really serious harm.
Palmer, 33, from Aberaeron Close, Barry; McCarthy, 36, from Bassett Street, Barry; Thompson, 47, from Hillary Rise, Barry; Symons, 21, who does not have a fixed address; and the 16-year-old boy all also deny violent disorder while Evans, 61, from Merganser Court, Barry, denies assisting an offender.
The jury is due to visit the scene today and the case, presided over by Mr Justice Picken, continues.