Standens Barn stabbing: ‘I can’t describe it, I lost my best friend,’ says witness called to give evidence
A mutual friend of both the victim and the defendant was called to the witness box to begin his evidence yesterday (June 4).
The trial continues for the man accused of murdering 23-year-old Clinton Obeng Oppong Antwi, after a jury was sworn in last Tuesday (May 27).
Junior Emmanuel Uwadia, of Northfield Way, Northampton, denies murdering Clinton – who died in Flaxwell Court, Standens Barn on Thursday, December 11 last year.
Uwadia has also entered a plea of not guilty to having an article with a blade or point.
Last Wednesday (May 28) marked the first day of evidence in the trial before Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane, which is estimated to last for around three weeks.
On Wednesday (June 4), the mutual friend began by confirming that he, the victim, the defendant and another of their friends – all of whom were present on the day of the fatal incident – had been part of a friendship group for around two months.
The witness and Clinton had known each other for around eight years and had grown to become good friends, the court heard.
The witness confirmed, when asked by the prosecution, that an altercation had occurred between the victim and the defendant at what he recalled to be around a week before Clinton’s passing.
The court heard this stemmed from the fact that Clinton was hungry and the defendant had offered to buy him food. Clinton wanted to go in that moment and Uwadia was waiting for their mutual friend, this witness, as he was giving him a lift somewhere. The defendant insisted on waiting for the mutual friend to give him the lift he had agreed.
The court heard that the next time the friendship group saw one another was at Weston Favell Shopping Centre on December 10, the night before the fatal stabbing.
Clinton and the two mutual friends went to use clothes washing facilities at the shopping centre, and were joined by the defendant in his vehicle – and the court heard Uwadia was acting “aggressively”.
Approaching the victim’s car window, the three friends began laughing as they thought the “aggressive” behaviour from the defendant was joking and messing around.
Uwadia then instructed the friends to join him at Flaxwell Court and the court heard that during the short journey there, the defendant tried to “scare” with his speedy driving.
The court was shown the CCTV footage from the house opposite the car parking area in Flaxwell Court from the evening of December 10, 2024.
The witness said that when the “footage glitched”, he, the victim and the other mutual friend all got out of Clinton’s car together and walked around the corner – in which they were met by the defendant out of his vehicle.
The witness told the court he was ahead of the victim and their other mutual friend and could see the defendant holding a bag, with a knife in his right hand. He said he warned the other two.
He questioned why Uwadia had a knife as the situation was not “serious”, and told the court he was encouraging him to put it away.
As the victim and defendant were saying “come at me” to one another, the witness said Clinton ran back towards his car and picked up a metal canister. After which, the witness said the victim “tried to jump scare” him and Uwadia as he got back into his vehicle and drove out of the car park, mounting the path while doing so.
When asked by the prosecution if anything happened after that further down Flaxwell Court, which was not picked up by the house CCTV, the witness said that Clinton reversed his car in another attempt to “jump scare” and Uwadia used a knife to stab the back of the victim’s car.
The court heard that the defendant then got into his own car and the victim parked. The witness said that as Clinton got out of his car, he threw the metal canister as Uwadia was driving away.
This witness did not see Uwadia again that evening but communicated with him via text messages, in which he asked the defendant to return and there was mention of a “fair fight”.
The court heard that Uwadia’s response to the text message included the words “if I come back, somebody’s coming to heaven” and that he had a blade in his possession.
The witness told the court that he wanted the pair to sort out the altercation by “talk[ing] it out” and was trying to encourage the resolution that evening. Though the defendant had fallen out with Clinton, Uwadia kept making his “love” for this witness clear through his messages.
In text messages to follow, Uwadia referred to the events of December 10 as a “warning” and said “I saved his life as you don’t know how angry I was”. Uwadia also referred to Clinton as a “chicken” for returning to his vehicle, and asked for this witness not to take sides.
The witness told the court he was “angry” at Uwadia for what he did that day, as they were all meant to be friends and that is not what friends do.
The day of the fatal stabbing
The witness messaged the defendant before 9am the following morning (December 11, 2024) to check in with him. Clinton was with the mutual friend at the time and the witness was acting as the messenger between the victim and the defendant, the court heard.
According to the witness, Clinton wanted Uwadia to pay for the damage on his car from the night before and to “make peace”. Clinton was adamant that he did not want Uwadia to have his phone number.
The court heard that Uwadia messaged that he was not Clinton’s “little boy” and he would come when he wanted to “unexpectedly”.
The witness’ next text message referred to a “fair fight” with no knives involved, to which Uwadia said he “doesn’t do fair fights”.
The conversation then progressed to talking about the alleged damage to both vehicles the previous evening, the court heard, to which it appeared to take a positive turn.
The witness confirmed, when asked by the prosecution, that Clinton was insistent on meeting that day to ensure they had made peace with the situation.
Just ahead of when the friendship group came together at the car parking area at Flaxwell Court, where the fatal incident took place, the witness said to Uwadia: “don’t do anything crazy”. Uwadia assured he would not and said “you have my word”.
As the witness was then shown the CCTV footage of the fatal incident on December 11 last year, he told the court he walked over to the defendant’s car to see the damage that was done the evening before.
When the prosecution asked what happened when the footage jumped, the mutual friend said that Clinton came out of his car with the same metal canister he had the previous day and “ran” towards the defendant.
The pair were “getting in each other’s faces” and Clinton was “angry” about the damage to his car and the knife being pulled out by the defendant the evening before, the court heard.
The mutual friend says he tried to get between them to separate the fight and at one point, he told the court he grabbed Uwadia from behind to get him off the victim.
Circling back to when Uwadia first left his vehicle when the group met on December 11, the witness said Uwadia had a bag on his back. The court heard that during the incident, the bag fell to the side and a knife fell out.
The witness said it was Clinton who picked up the knife and was holding it away from the group. The court heard the victim was holding the metal canister in his other hand, and at one point used it to hit the defendant in his kneecaps.
Later on in the video, when the victim walks towards the defendant’s car, the witness says Clinton said he was going to “damage” the vehicle – which led Uwadia to be “angry”.
As both the defendant and this witness moved towards Clinton near the defendant’s car, he told the jury it was then that Uwadia took the knife from the victim’s hand.
It was then that Clinton allegedly turned away to run and Uwadia stabbed him for the first time, in an area the witness recalled to be “his back” and he demonstrated by putting a hand to his left side.
The witness told the court that he did not see the second stab but Clinton was shouting “I was stabbed, call an ambulance”.
The witness told the court that he believes the defendant stabbed the victim for a second time when he fell to the ground, and the wound was to the lower back.
Uwadia allegedly then said “I f***ing told you” and walked towards his car, at which point the witness tried to grab the defendant so he could not get away. The witness said he then “punched” the mirror of the car and urged Uwadia to stay until the police arrived.
When asked again about the words uttered by the defendant, the witness confirmed that he believes Uwadia said “I f***ing told you this will happen” as Clinton ran through the car park and the defendant headed to his vehicle.
The witness concluded that as Uwadia sped off out of the car park, this is when the other mutual friend “picked up the canister” and threw it at the defendant’s car.
The court heard that upon returning to Clinton to find him collapsed on the ground, the witness gave him CPR and called an ambulance.
Andrew Vout KC asked the witness how he felt at this point and he responded: “I can’t describe it, I lost my best friend”.
Having been arrested on suspicion of murder himself, the witness was asked how this made him feel and he replied “angry”.
The cross examination by the defence, led by Benjamin Aina KC, started on Wednesday (June 4) but had to be halted due to juror illness. The trial is set to continue tomorrow (Friday, June 6).
The trial continues.
Read the previous Chronicle & Echo stories from this ongoing murder trial here…