Fred Shand murder trial: Co-defendants were only ‘close friends’ since start of this year, court hears

The judge has begun summing up the case for the jury who have heard evidence at Northampton Crown Court for the last three and a half weeks into the killing of 16-year-old Kingsthorpe pupil Fred Shand.

Having heard the prosecution’s case, all the evidence, eyewitness recollections, and the three closing statements, the Judge starting summarising the case today (Tuesday).

The Honourable Mr Justice Morris reminded the jury of the prosecution’s case, which is that the 15-year-old defendant intended to cause “at least really serious bodily injury” – and the older defendant was part of the joint plan to attack Fred with a knife and is guilty of murder alongside his co-defendant.

The court heard the younger defendant denies intending to kill or cause really serious bodily injury, and the older defendant claims that he did not intend for any knife to be used in the incident and that he withdrew from the plan.

The Judge’s summary was split into six key sections, as follows – background information, events before March 22, events on March 22 before the stabbing, the stabbing itself, the aftermath when the co-defendants fled the scene, and events later on or subsequent to March 22.

The Honourable Mr Justice Morris began by confirming the factual, background information of the case, including the names of all individuals mentioned over the trial so far.

The summary drew on the evidence given by the 15-year-old defendant – particularly his use of social media, why and how he came to own two knives, and how his understanding and perception of carrying knives has changed.

The court was also reminded of the evidence given by the father of the 17-year-old defendant, after he did not give evidence himself.

The co-defendants began as friend-of-friends around a year ago, the court heard, but by March they were “good friends” and the 15-year-old considered the older defendant as a “close friend a little into the new year”.

The Honourable Mr Justice Morris then continued with section two of his summary, splitting the events before March 22 into four parts.

The first part covered November 2022, when social media messages were exchanged when the 15-year-old defendant and one of Fred’s friends liked the same young female.

Negative messages and swearing were exchanged between the defendant and the young male who ended up in a couple with the female he liked.

The jury were reminded of the message sent a day or two later by the 15-year-old defendant to a social media group chat about wanting to leave “bare holes” in the male he had exchanged negative messages with – despite the 15-year-old saying he was a “stranger” at the time.

The court heard that the 15-year-old defendant was “acting the big guy” and “talking tough”. Though he did not intend to stab him, the 15-year-old wanted those in the group chat to believe him but was left feeling “cyber bullied” when they laughed at him.

The second part of summarising the events before March 22 was what happened on March 20.

The judge addressed the jury about the images they had been shown of the older defendant posing with knives, both “modified” on March 20 at different times. A summary was also provided of the evidence given by the 17-year-old’s father about when he found the photo of the defendant on his own, posing with the machete he used for “gardening”.

What also happened on March 20, the court heard, was the incident at Taco Bell when the 15-year-old defendant attacked a friend of the young male who dated the girl he liked. The 15-year-old’s evidence confirmed he punched him three times and held him by his hood before leaving the fast food restaurant in Walter Tull Way.

The Judge summarised the evidence of Fred’s teen friend when he was questioned about events leading up to the fatal stabbing. This included his two police interviews and when he was in the witness box.

The court heard that between the events of November 2022 and March 20, nothing had happened between any parties and there were no social media threats made.

The third part of summarising the events before March 22 was what happened in McDonald’s in the Drapery the day before – again drawing on the evidence given by Fred’s teen friend and his cross examination in the witness box.

The Judge also drew on the 15-year-old defendant’s knowledge of that incident from his evidence, and one of the written witness statements heard earlier in the trial from a friend of the younger defendant confirming the fight outside McDonald’s.

The final part summarising the events before March 22 was the messages exchanged post the McDonald’s altercation, which included the formulation of the co-defendant’s “plan” for the next day.

The court heard the 15-year-old defendant described social media as “popping off” in his evidence, when talking about how the videos of the McDonald’s altercation circulated and was spoken about online.

The Judge continued his summary into Tuesday afternoon (August 1) and will complete on Wednesday morning (August 2).

What else has happened in the trial so far?

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 their murder charge before Northampton Crown Court on April 24. They cannot be named for legal reasons.

Miss Jane Bickerstaff KC, the prosecuting barrister, kickstarted the trial on Wednesday, July 12 with the prosecution opening after the jury was sworn in on Monday, July 10.

The court heard 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 he pleaded guilty to from the outset.

The court heard 16-year-old Rohan Shand, known as Fred, died after being stabbed near the Cock Hotel in Harborough Road at about 3.35pm on March 22 while on his way home from Kingsthorpe College.

Miss Bickerstaff KC, of the prosecution, told the court it was the 15-year-old male defendant that carried out the stabbing and he was accompanied by the 17-year-old in the planned “joint enterprise attack” – shown by CCTV footage in court.

The stabbing followed an altercation outside McDonalds in the Drapery, which the court heard took place the day before (March 21).

A male had his “face sliced with a belt buckle” during that “dispute” and the two defendants were a friend of his. The co-defendants believed Fred Shand was at the forefront of the group responsible.

The court heard that after the co-defendants arrived at Kingsthorpe College later than planned on March 22, they rode on scooter towards the town centre via Harborough Road.

The entire incident was over in seven seconds after Fred, his teen friend and the two co-defendants came together for the first time at 3.34pm on March 22 on the green in Harborough Road, the court heard.

The co-defendants fled the scene on foot to the home of the 17-year-old, where they were detained by police shortly after – along with the murder weapon, a second knife and clothing worn during the incident.

During the second day of the trial (Thursday, July 13) – the first in which witnesses were called on to give evidence by the prosecution – the court saw 360 degree imagery to give them an understanding of the area, as well as video footage that has been recovered from March 22.

On the morning of the third day of the trial (Friday, July 14), the pathologist that conducted Fred’s post-mortem examination gave her expert evidence on the cause of death.

This was followed by evidence given by the teen friend who was with Fred on the day of the fatal stabbing.

Kickstarting the second week (Tuesday, July 18), the two eyewitnesses who followed the co-defendants home after the incident were called to give evidence.

The final live witness took to the stand to conclude the morning sitting, when the court heard he saw the blade pulled from the younger defendant’s trousers.

Five written witness statements were read aloud to conclude the sitting on Tuesday, July 18. One of which detailed a nine second phone call the 15-year-old defendant had with a friend ahead of the incident.

The final eight written statements were heard the following day (Wednesday, July 19), including five from members of the police force.

Ahead of the prosecution closing its case, the jury were taken step-by-step through key moments which led to the Kingsthorpe College pupil’s death.

Having been told the agreed facts of the case, the jury heard the 17-year-old defendant had pleaded guilty to being in possession of a bladed article in Harborough Road on the day of the fatal stabbing.

The 15-year-old defendant stood to give evidence in court for the first time on the afternoon of Friday, July 21, when the jury heard him say young people buy knives “for show” and to “look cool”.

The younger defendant also proceeded to tell the court he felt “upset” seeing a picture of Fred Shand for the first time because of “how it happened and how it went down”.

Continuing his evidence on July 24, the 15-year-old said he wore a balaclava and carried a knife on the day of the fatal stabbing to “look as scary as possible” but claimed he had no intention of using the knife as a weapon.

That same afternoon, the younger defendant described the moments leading up to the fatal stabbing and said he “did not realise” he stabbed Fred until the 16-year-old collapsed and he saw the blood on his knife.

The 15-year-old admitted going against an “agreement” with his older co-defendant not to use a knife in the confrontation with Fred and his friend when he was cross-examined in court on July 25.

Miss Bickerstaff KC, prosecuting, accused the 15-year-old of “telling lots of lies” to the jury. During the conclusion of his evidence, the court heard the younger defendant obtained the knife that killed Fred by asking “strangers” in the street to buy the blade for him.

Benjamin Aina KC, defending the 17-year-old, told Northampton Crown Court on July 27 that his client will not be giving any evidence in the murder trial.

The 17-year-old’s father, however, did take the stand as a witness and told the jury that he threw away a machete he used for “cutting wood” after discovering a photo of his son posing with it on his phone.

The Honourable Mr Justice Morris began giving legal directions to jurors on Friday, July 28. This set out the important factors they need to take into account when deciding if each defendant is guilty of murder or manslaughter.

Having started the closing statements on the morning of Monday, July 31, the jury heard the prosecution refer to the fatal stabbing as a “planned, anticipated and violent attack on Fred”.

This was followed by the closing statement from the defence barrister of the 15-year-old defendant, who described the fatal stabbing as a “fight gone horribly, tragically wrong”.

During the closing statement from the defence barrister of the 17-year-old defendant, the photos of him posing with knives were labelled as “nothing at all to do with the taking out of a knife and being prepared to plunge it into the body of another human being”.

In the second half of that closing statement, the 17-year-old’s defence told the court they believed he was “no longer interested” in pursuing the plan the co-defendants made for March 22.

The trial continues.