Fred Shand murder trial: Defence believes older defendant was ‘no longer interested’ in pursuing fight, court hears

The closing statement from the defence barrister of the 17-year-old defendant was the final one to be heard in the trial of the Northampton teens charged with the murder of Fred Shand.

The murder trial has been ongoing for the past three weeks, with alternative counts of manslaughter having been added for both defendants towards the end of the third week.

The 15-year-old denies murder but admits manslaughter, and the 17-year-old denies both charges. It is for the jury to consider this, as well as determine if the 17-year-old defendant made his ‘withdrawal from joint enterprise’ clear to the younger defendant.

Continuing on from the first half of the closing statement from the 17-year-old’s defence, Mr Benjamin Aina KC said: “No one at any stage has anyone said [my client] was involved with violence.” This included the altercations leading up to the fatal stabbing, the court heard.

Having replayed the CCTV footage, the defence barrister suggested the 17-year-old was “only concerned” about the fact his cap fell off when he fell to the floor.

“What doesn’t he do that he could have done?” said Mr Aina KC. “He could have taken his knife out, couldn’t he? And chased after the person who knocked him to the ground. But he doesn’t do that.”

The court heard Mr Aina KC’s interpretation of the CCTV footage that after he puts his hat back on, the 17-year-old is “no longer interested”.

Mr Aina KC said: “If he was still carrying on the plan to fight, what would you expect him to do to [Fred’s friend]? You might expect him to attack [him].”

The defence barrister asked the jury to consider that when his client gets up from the ground, the 17-year-old does not produce the knife, threaten anyone with it, or shout at the 15-year-old co-defendant to use his knife.

He told the court the 17-year-old did not “encourage” the younger defendant to use his knife in any way, he did not attack Fred’s friend, nor was he wearing gloves during the incident.

“It seems his only concern is that his cap has been knocked off,” said Mr Aina KC.

The defence barrister proceeded to reference the legal directions given by The Honourable Mr Justice Morris on withdrawal from joint participation.

Mr Aina KC told the jury that it is for them to decide whether the 17-year-old saying “let’s just leave it” and suggesting getting a bus into the town centre was “enough” to withdraw, or whether “the scooter coming back round is a continuation of the original plan”.

The defence described Miss Jane Bickerstaff KC’s reference to the only CCTV clip from March 22 with audio as “selective”.

Mr Aina KC told the jury that during his evidence, the 15-year-old confirmed that as the pair left the scene of the incident the older defendant said words to the effect of “what the **** did you do?”

The defence believes this suggests the 17-year-old believed the incident “went way out of what was agreed”.

Referring to the older defendant’s choice not to give evidence in the murder trial, the barrister said “nobody wants to be known as a snitch” but told the jury it is their decision about whether his silence is “held against him”.

After referencing the Judge’s legal directions, Mr Aina KC’s parting words were that the only people who produced and used weapons that day were the 15-year-old defendant and Fred – who allegedly hit the 17-year-old with his belt.

“What is it that [my client] did that you should find him guilty?” said Mr Aina KC.

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”.

The trial continues.