The man accused of making threats to kill Sam Davies has told the murder trial that he did not supply the weapon used to stab him.
Joe Jameson, who had fired 23-year-old Mr Davies from his drugs supply business, was in the witness box at Nottingham Crown Court for a third day on Monday, February 21.
It’s accepted that the pair had fall-out a couple of weeks before Mr Davies was lured to a park in Lincoln and fatally stabbed on May 27 last year.
The prosecution says the attack was carried out by 20-year-old Eimantas Gochman, whose DNA was found on a Rambo movie-style knife along with Mr Davies’ blood.
It also claims that it was revenge for Mr Davies stealing Jameson’s drugs stash.
Jameson says he had agreed to pay Gochman to only “scare off” Mr Davies, who had made threats to kill him and his mother and rob all his mates.
The victim was not supposed to be murdered, not even seriously harmed, insists Jameson.
Gochman is said to have been arranged by co-defendants Daniel Heydari – Jameson’s drug supplier – and Billy Gill.
Gordon Aspden QC, representing Gochman, questioned Jameson on his motives for meeting Gochman in Jameson’s car face to face for the first time hours before the attack.
“He wasn’t doing a lot of talking [on the phone],” said Jameson. “I wanted to see him in person and make sure he knew what I wanted.
“I just thought it was necessary to make sure that was concrete.”
“Did you have to give him something?” asked Mr Aspden.
“No,” replied Jameson, who agreed that he had told Gochman that Mr Davies “habitually” carried a knife.
“Did you take a plastic bag out from under your seat?” said Mr Aspden.
Jameson denied that and was asked: “Did you give him a Rambo 3 knife during that meeting?”
“No,” replied the defendant.
“Did you tell him you wanted him to use it to stab Mr Davies as you’d asked him to do?” said Mr Aspden.
Again, Jameson said no.
During re-examination by William Harbage QC, for the prosecution, Jameson said he only supplied cannabis and owed Heydari between £20,000 and £30,000 because he was always given the class B drug “on tick”.
He accepted Mr Harbage’s suggestion that they were “partners in crime”.
Mr Harbage added: “You had a joint problem because you had your stash nicked and you tried to sort it out together.”
Jameson replied: “No, I purely spoke to Dan about the threats I’d received.”
Mr Harbage continued: “And what happened to Sam Davies was you and Heydari taking revenge on Sam for what you thought he’d done.”
Jameson denied that too.
However, he admitted lying in his first defence statement in which he denied knowing Mr Davies was back in Lincoln on the day in question and claimed he was not on the St Giles estate at the time of the attack.
In fact Jameson was in his car near the attack scene for about 40 minutes.
He submitted a second defence statement shortly after the trial began last month.
“It wasn’t just a snap moment,” he said. “I’ve been in a prison cell for eight months thinking about why I’m here, what’s going to happen to my life.
“I decided I didn’t want to lie to myself or anyone else anymore – I wanted to tell every single one of you exactly what happened.”
Mr Harbage said: “You accept that this plan to put the frighteners on, to run with your evidence for a moment, involved you, Daniel Heydari, Billy Gill and Eimantas Gochman.
“But, in truth, it was a plan to kill or at the very least cause Sam Davies very serious harm. A plan to stab him.”
“No,” said Jameson.
Mr Harbage suggested that Jameson had had a re-think about his first statement and now had a different version to try to “save your own skin”.
“Trying to avoid any knowledge of the ‘dipped up’ messages,” he added, referring to what the prosecution claims was stabbing arrangements found though phones analysis.
“Isn’t the truth that you and Mr Heydari agreed to pay Gochman £5,000 and that’s why the message from Daniel Heydari to Billy Gill was ‘five there’?”
Jameson replied: “I had no idea that that message was being sent.”
He added: “It could mean five hundred, it could mean five thousand. It could even mean a fiver.”
Mr Harbage said: “Despite your suggestion that you had a big debt, I suggest you could afford to pay £5,000 because of your drug dealing.”
Jameson said his business was good but never produced the profits he wanted.
All seven Lincoln defendants face one count of murder, which they all deny.
They are Billy Gill, 21, of Hatcliffe Gardens; Daniel Heydari, 25, of Chestnut Street; Joe Jameson, 24, of Whitehall Terrace; Eimantas Gochman, 20, of Sturton Close; Eric Kesel, 19, of Browning Drive; and Charlie Wakefield, 21, of Broxholme Gardens.
A 17-year-old boy cannot be legally identified due to his age.
Jameson is also accused of making a threat to kill, which he denies.
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An emergency road closure will be put in place for two hours in Stamford’s Red Lion Square on Wednesday as expert crews carry out road materials testing.
The critical work will take place on Wednesday, May 25 and the road closure in and around the square will be in effect from 10am until 12pm. A full route diversion will be signposted.
The roads will have to be closed because some of the materials testing will be carried out on the live northbound traffic lane in the area.
The route map for traffic whilst testing is underway. | Photo: LCC
Just last week a forty-year-old gas main was discovered during works to replace the old cobbles in Red Lion Square, which the county council said was likely to delay the completion of the £1.4 million project. The site team began the works but later identified the shallow gas main on-site that may need to be diverted.
Lincolnshire County Council will keep, and update, the cobbled square despite the mayor of Stamford previously calling on the authority to instead use tarmac. Local residents had previously reacted in horror when the traditional paving setts were repacked with patches of tarmac in 2020.
Red Lion Square in Stamford. | Photo: LCC
Karen Cassar, assistant director for highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience that these material tests will cause and for the late notice of the road closure in Red Lion Square.
“Our on-site team has uncovered questions about the road materials which need clear answers and these can only come about through these tests.
“Rather than postpone the works further we will close the road for two hours to carry out the tests and then resume to the original plan of works for the area. We are doing this to absolutely minimise the disruption to road users as much as possible.
“Whilst this situation is not ideal, we appreciate the efforts of all concerned. I want to thank everyone effected for their patience in this matter whilst we carry out these tests.”
Over 300 kilos of essential food was donated to Lincoln Foodbank at the opening night of the Hunchback of Notre Dame on Monday, and the show’s producers are offering a prize draw of free tickets to people who continue to help the cause.
The Starring Lincoln Theatre Company’s production of the classic Victor Hugo novel had its opening night at Lincoln Cathedral on Monday, May 23, and it will continue to bring shows to the legendary venue until Saturday, June 4.
The company called on ticket buyers to bring food donations with them to the cathedral for Lincoln Foodbank, and the results certainly did not disappoint.
Andrew Buhagiar, a 20-year-old student from Malta, stars in the production as Quasimodo. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Over 300kgs of goods such as UHT milk, sugar, tuna and tinned foods were collected at the cathedral, a brilliant start to Starring Lincoln’s target of four tonnes – which was achieved during performances of Oliver! in 2017.
The appeal has never been more necessary, with Lincoln Foodbank taking on more people’s needs than ever before, and it has even reached the stage where some of the Hunchback performers are relying on the use of the food bank.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Visitors are being invited to continue bringing food donations with them, with a collection point situated in the nave of the cathedral.
All donations are welcome, even from those without tickets to a Hunchback production, and anyone who brings something along will be entered into a prize draw to win a ticket to one of the shows.
A magical display inside Lincoln Cathedral. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Tim Marks, who plays Clopin in the Hunchback of Notre Dame said: “It is heartbreaking frankly that people in one of the richest countries in the world simply cannot afford food.
“We know the people of Lincoln have gone above and beyond before with their kindness and crikey we thank them for it, but the Foodbank has never been more in need of donations.
“We have friends, some of whom in the cast who are in need of the Foodbank’s services, so please bring what you can and in return we promise we will entertain you with an absolute stonker of a show!”
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