Fred Shand murder trial: Judge concludes summary before jury retired to consider verdict of teens

Ahead of the jury retiring to consider their verdict this morning (Wednesday, August 2), the Judge concluded his summing up of the case.

Continuing with section four of six of the summary which was left unfinished the previous afternoon (August 1), the jury were reminded of the information on the moment of the stabbing itself.

The morning began with a summary of the 15-year-old defendant’s evidence on the incident, drawing on when he alleged he saw Fred remove his belt as the four came together on the green at 3.34pm.

Though the younger defendant is unsure, he thought his 17-year-old co-defendant was hit with Fred's belt before he fell to the ground.

The court heard the 15-year-old removed the knife he was in possession of from his waistband to scare Fred off, as he hoped it would make him run away – but Fred actually asked the 15-year-old “do you think I’m scared of a shank?” before he was fatally stabbed.

The jury were reminded that during questioning while the younger defendant was giving evidence, he said others “wouldn’t understand” as they were not “in [his] shoes”.

The 15-year-old said what happened changed from what he thought was going to take place. “It changed in a second,” he said.

The court was reminded of his further evidence, when he claimed he did not realise he had stabbed Fred until he fell to the ground and saw blood on his knife.

During evidence, the 15-year-old confirmed his older co-defendant did not encourage him to stab Fred and they had an agreement that no knives were to be used.

While the 15-year-old thought he and his co-defendant would be the “attackers”, the Judge recalled that he said it became “two against one”.

The court was reminded that the 15-year-old denied a first attempt to stab Fred in his back, but agreed with the term “flew” to describe the way he and the 17-year-old moved towards Fred and his friend during cross-examination.

The Judge also drew on the 15-year-old’s evidence when he said that the moderate force was caused by the fact Fred hit the tree with his back as the knife went into his body.

The 15-year-old had no intention when leaving the house on the morning of March 22 to kill or cause really serious bodily harm to Fred, the court heard.

When asked to describe his emotions at the time, the 15-year-old said he did not “think words had the power to describe” how he was thinking and feeling at the time.

Moving on to section five of the Judge’s summing up of the case – drawing on the events on March 22 after the stabbing – the jury were reminded of all eyewitnesses who provided evidence on this stage of the incident.

The jury were once again told about attempts made to save Fred’s life at the scene on Harborough Road, as well as pathologist Dr Frances Hollingbury’s evidence on the injury Fred sustained.

How the co-defendants made their way back to the 17-year-old’s home address was also recalled, up until the 17-year-old was arrested at 3.48pm and the 15-year-old was arrested at 5.06pm that day.

The recovery of the knives and clothes worn were recovered on March 22 and 23, the court heard.

Both defendants replied ‘no comment’ to all questions asked in subsequent police interviews following their arrests, besides the 17-year-old providing a handwritten statement.

The jury were reminded of the prosecution’s case that the co-defendants are “each equally responsible” and were “part of a joint plan to attack Fred”.

The prosecution believes there was no suggestion that the older defendant withdrew from the plan before or during the incident.

The 15-year-old’s case is that he did not intend to cause Fred really serious bodily injury and is not guilty of murder.

The younger defendant agreed not to use knives at the time of the incident, and did not realise he had stabbed Fred until he fell to the ground. He accepts he is guilty of manslaughter.

The 17-year-old’s case is that he withdrew from any joint plan and participation in causing Fred harm. Though he admits there was a plan to confront Fred with fists, he puts forward that he expressed a wish to leave it and travel into the town centre on a bus – and offered to pay for the 15-year-old’s bus fare.

His case is that is not guilty of murder or manslaughter.

The Judge then sent the jury away to consider their verdict.

The trial continues.