Northampton taxi driver chased after alleged attackers to gather vital evidence on his dashcam, jury in murder case hear
The heroic efforts of a Northampton taxi driver who fought to capture crucial CCTV evidence on his dashcam will be heard as evidence in an ongoing murder trial, a court was told on Monday.
Two men are standing trial for the murder of Daniel Fitzjohn, who died in Kingsley on June 14 last year.
But at the start of the trial at Northampton Crown Court yesterday (February 4), the jury heard how a taxi driver who drove Mr Fitzjohn and his friends around that evening and witnessed every step of the alleged attack fought to gather vital evidence for the police.
In the scuffle, Quinn allegedly brandished a large branch at one of the group before he was punched to the floor by Mr Fitzjohn. Quinn then reportedly got in the grey Mini he arrived in and drove it straight at the group, before driving off.
"That should have been the end of it," Miss Loram QC told the jury. "But it wasn't."
"The taxi [carrying Mr Fitzjohn and his friends] went to Brookfield Road to drop them off.
"But then the taxi driver noticed the return of the grey Mini."
The driver warned his passengers of the approaching car, which 'abruptly' stopped behind them.
It was then, the prosecutor told the court, that Quinn and Sanghera got out the Mini and ran at the group brandishing a knife and a machete respectively.
In the foot chase that ensued across Kingsley, Quinn allegedly chased Mr Fitzjohn - and when he caught up to him, the prosecution says he stabbed him twice in the abdomen.
But the taxi driver, who had dashcams set up for both his rear and windscreen windows, did not stand by.
The court heard how he turned in the road and sped after Mr Fitzjohn to capture the alleged attack.
After the incident, Quinn and Sanghera drove away from the scene in the same grey Mini - but the taxi pursued them up to the junction of East Park Parade and Kingsley Road 'to get their licence plates'. Then he called the police.
His efforts meant that nearly every step of the events surrounding Mr Fitzjohn's death were caught on camera - including the alleged stabbing.
Mr Fitzjohn was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead at 10.35pm.
Miss Loram QC said: "It is the Crown's case that Quinn delivered those fatal wounds, while Sanghera was part and parcel of what happened... his behaviour makes him guilty of murder."
The court will hear the outline for the defence on Tuesday morning (February 5).