“He hesitated, he retreated, he almost ends up dead twice”: Teen fighting alongside Mason Miller was defending himself, jury told

Maria Karaiskov KC said the 18-year-old had twice faced someone carrying a machete and had ended up with life-threatening injuries on both occasions – but had never used his own weapon to hurt anyone.

Mason, 20, died after being stabbed during a machete fight at Briar Hill Skate Park in Northampton on 18 February 2026.

The three defendants, aged 16, 17 and 18, are on trial at Northampton Crown Court.

The 16-year-old denies murdering Mason and says he did not stab anyone. The 17-year-old admits delivering the fatal wound but denies murder, arguing he acted in self-defence. The 18-year-old denies involvement in Mason's killing and says he was himself a victim of the violence. All three defendants deny murder and manslaughter.

The prosecution says the 16-year-old and 17-year-old killed Mason and attempted to murder the 18-year-old. It also alleges the 18-year-old was guilty of Mason's murder.

Prosecutors say the four young men were on opposing sides in a two-against-two machete fight, with both sides sharing a common purpose and prepared to cause really serious harm.

The court has heard that the 18-year-old and four other boys were looking for the 16-year-old, who had gone to the skate park to sell drugs to a man in his 50s.

The jury has also heard messages exchanged in the days before Mason's death which, the court heard, said showed the group discussing how to find and attack the 16-year-old.

An earlier machete attack in April 2025, in which the 18-year-old was seriously injured, was also part of the history between the defendants.

The April 2025 attack

The jury has heard how, on 6 April 2025, the 18-year-old was attacked by two boys who arrived on electric bikes at the junction of Weedon Road and Spencer Bridge Road in Northampton.

CCTV shown to the jury appeared to show all three carrying machetes. The prosecution alleges the 16-year-old hit the 18-year-old on the head with a machete, causing him to fall and drop his weapon.

He collapsed nearby with a fractured skull, damage to his brain and a serious wound to his neck. He was given first aid and flown to hospital by air ambulance.

Ms Karaiskov said her client had admitted carrying a machete during the April incident, but denied using it to hurt anyone.

She said: “You can see him trying to ward them off. He's not aggressive like they are. This occurs in a matter of seconds. We say when you look at the footage, at who are the aggressors, and you decide could he have done anything else? He's there on the corner on his own and those bikers surround him and he has to react. We say all he was doing was defending himself.

“He just does what he can do to defend himself. It's real life. It's fast-moving, where split decisions have to be made by a 16-year-old.”

She also referred to what happened after the April attack, when her client was lying injured on the ground. A member of the public who called 999 asked him if he knew who had attacked him. He replied: “No, no, no”, the jury heard.

Ms Karaiskov said: “If he really knew who had attacked him, when he could be about to die, you think he would name that person if he knew who they were. We say there was absolutely no intent by my client, all he was doing was defending himself.”

The February 2026 fight

Almost 10 months later, the 18-year-old was involved in the fight at Briar Hill Skate Park. The prosecution says he was on the same side as Mason, against the 16-year-old and 17-year-old defendants.

Mason was stabbed and died. The 18-year-old was also seriously injured, with stab wounds to his chest and thigh. Both his lungs were punctured and collapsed.

Ms Karaiskov said her client again had a machete but did not use it.

“In both of those incidents he's got his machete, he doesn't use it and he almost ends up dead.

"On April it fell out of his hand. He didn't inflict any injuries at all. Same on February.

“Twice he's face-to-face with someone who also has a machete, twice confronted with violence, twice he ends up on the ground with horrific injuries but on neither of those occasions did he use it. If his intention was to use that machete to cause injuries why didn't he?

“He was the person receiving the injuries.

“He can't even hold the machete that is in his possession.

“Young people carry knives for bravado, peer pressure, going along with the older boys, scare tactics. They think it makes them safer on the street. None of that is a defence and none of that is a reasonable excuse, but the point is there can be a lot of different reasons for possessing a knife.

“These young boys think carrying machetes makes them safer. My client didn't even know how to use it. When he was faced with the confrontation he didn't use it."

Ms Karaiskov said jurors should focus on what her client actually did during the fight at Briar Hill Skate Park.

She said: “Split seconds. And what did my client do during those split seconds? He went backwards, that's where he went. He retreated.”

She added: “When the police told my client Mason Miller had died, my client started crying. He started to cry.”

Ms Karaiskov also referred to a Slavery and Trafficking Risk Order involving Mason, which she said prohibited him from associating with children under 18. She said her client and other young people had been among the children Mason had associated with.

She said: “The older boys usually have the most power in that dynamic.”

She added that the defendant had accepted responsibility for carrying a machete on both occasions and had pleaded guilty to the two weapon offences.

“He's not scared to admit when he's done wrong. And that's why you have guilty pleas from him on those two offences.”

Messages before the February fatal stabbing

The jury has heard messages sent before Mason's death, including one sent by the 18-year-old on 17 February which said: “End of the day bro… if you don't ching him he might ching you bro, that's how it is.”

Ms Karaiskov said: “Those messages are horrific. I'm not going to defend them. But you can see who is organising and directing.”

“You can act the big boy on social media, but when he has a machete in his hand he doesn't act the big boy. He didn't injure anybody.

“The reality is he's not the big boy that he is on social media.

“The murder of Mason Miller is not what he's guilty of, manslaughter of Mason Miller is not what he's guilty of.

“Please don't find my client guilty because he had a machete. Don't find him guilty because of those messages or you disapprove of the drugs background.

“You are here with very young defendants. My client was 16 when he had that blow to the brain. And 17 when he had that blow to his chest. It's a miracle he survived those injuries and he did and he's here and he's sat a few feet away.

“My client didn't use a machete, didn't cause any injury, he was trying to scare those bikers away in April, in February the big man in social media context, no.

“He hesitated, he retreated, he takes a number of steps back. We say don't ignore this.”

Ms Karaiskov urged jurors not to decide the case on instinct. She said: “This isn’t Traitors, members of the jury. This is real life. So don't approach it on a hunch or on an instinct or because you're following the strongest personality in the room. Analyse the evidence and apply it to the law.

“The question for you is: have the prosecution proved its case?”

The jury's decision

The barristers representing all three defendants have now set out their clients' cases. All three have argued that they acted in self-defence.

The judge is going through the facts agreed by the prosecution and defence today, Thursday 12 November, before giving the jury its final directions and sending them out to consider their verdicts.