Fred Shand murder trial: Older teen defendant denies knowledge or possession of weapon at scene of alleged fatal stabbing

This afternoon (July 12), the court heard the prosecution opening as the trial for the Northampton teens charged with Fred Shand’s murder got underway.

The two teenage boys from Northampton, who were aged 14 and 16 at the time but are now 15 and 17, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge before Northampton Crown Court on April 24. They cannot be named for legal reasons.

Following the jury being sworn in on Monday (July 10) and legal discussions on Tuesday (July 11), the case was opened and is expected to last around three weeks – though The Honourable Mr Justice Morris prefaced that it is “impossible to be certain about the length of the trial at the outset”.

After legal discussions on Wednesday morning, which were resolved by the judge, prosecuting barrister Miss Jane Bickerstaff KC gave the jury an overview of the incident and the joint charge of murder that the Northampton teens face.

The younger defendant, aged 15, faces an additional charge of carrying an article with a blade or a sharp point in a public place – which the 15-year-old has already pleaded guilty to.

Ahead of the prosecution opening, it was made clear to the jury members that this was an “outline of what the case is about” and is not the evidence they will be presented with in due course.

A report published on this newspaper’s website on the prosecution opening detailed what took place up until after the stabbing happened.

This included the co-defendant’s message exchanges following an altercation at McDonalds in the Drapery the day before the stabbing (March 21).

A male had been harmed during this “dispute” and the two defendants were a friend of his. The co-defendants believed that Fred Shand was at the forefront of the group responsible.

The male harmed had his “face sliced with a belt buckle” – which the court heard “there is no doubt that Fred Shand was being held primarily responsible”.

Addressing the jury about the co-defendant’s intentions, Miss Bickerstaff KC said: “A revenge attack was planned.”

The stabbing took place over the course of seven seconds from when Fred and his 15-year-old male friend first came into contact with the co-defendants – as shown on CCTV to the court.

After Fred doubled over from his wound, the defendants “very much still acting as one” turned their attention to Fred’s 15-year-old male friend.

The court heard Fred’s friend was chased by the 15-year-old defendant, who then turned to the 17-year-old and they left the scene together.

Fred’s 15-year-old male friend went to help him with his injury, which caused him to stagger into the road and collapse – but he was removed from the road by the 15-year-old, the court heard.

The co-defendants, who tried to return to the electric scooter but failed, left the scene by foot and were followed by two members of the public in a vehicle.

The two witnesses contacted the police and informed them that the teens had returned to a Northampton address, which was later found to be the family home of the 17-year-old.

The police, paramedics and a doctor attended the scene of the stabbing within minutes and despite “frantic attempts” being made to save Fred’s life, it was “all in vain” and Fred was pronounced dead at the scene at 4pm.

The court heard police quickly attended the family home of the 17-year-old where they had attended after the incident.

The older defendant was detained as he walked down a path at the side of the house.

Miss Bickerstaff KC told the jury that the 17-year-old volunteered to the police that the “man they wanted was inside”.

The court heard the 17-year-old said: “The guy who did it is still in the house.”

The police went inside to find the 15-year-old defendant in the attic room, having changed his clothes and in possession of two mobile phones – one that looked as if it had been taken apart.

The clothes the 15-year-old had worn during the stabbing and a pair of blood stained trainers were found during a search of the garden shed, the court heard.

A black cross body bag was found with the clothes, which contained a balaclava, a black beanie hat and a pair of black gloves. The court earlier heard that the 15-year-old had been dressed in all black, as shown by the CCTV footage.

A large knife and its sheath were also found in the garden shrubbery and the jury heard that this knife had been imported by the 15-year-old defendant using his cousin’s name and his mobile phone number.

The inside surfaces of the sheath were swabbed and tested and a full DNA profile was obtained, matching that of the 17-year-old defendant, the court heard. The 15-year-old’s DNA was also found on the handle of the same knife.

A further weapon was recovered from nearby the first knife at the top of the garden, which was “visibly stained with blood”.

With a blade measuring 26 centimetres in length, the blood was tested and matched the DNA of Fred Shand and the court heard it is believed to be the murder weapon.

The DNA of the 15-year-old defendant was found on the sheath of what is believed to be the murder weapon.

After the 17-year-old requested the 15-year-old to bring “tools”, the court heard it is believed the two that were found at the Northampton address are the ones the younger teen had brought upon request.

The court heard a post-mortem examination was conducted on March 23, which confirmed the cause of death was a single stab wound to the left side of the chest that caused “catastrophic blood loss”.

Both defendants were interviewed on four occasions. The 15-year-old responded “no comment” to all questions and the 17-year-old exercised his right to silence.

However, the 17-year-old prepared a handwritten statement that was read to the court.

After confirming his name and date of birth, it read: “At no point on March 22, 2023 have I been in possession of any knife or other weapon.

“At no point have I assaulted, stabbed, or slashed anyone, nor have I caused anyone any injury or subsequent death.

“I had no knowledge of any knife at the scene at the time of the alleged incident before any assault took place.

“At no point on this date did I intend for anyone to come to harm, nor was I aware of any intention of another person to cause serious harm, if this was in fact the case.”

The statement was signed and dated March 23.

The trial continues.