Sam Davies murder trial: 17-yo defendant denies seeing weapon

A youth accused of the murder of Lincoln man Sam Davies has denied saying “he had a f***ing weapon” after leaving the scene of the stabbing.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was facing a second day of questions while giving evidence at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, March 22.

He is one of seven defendants from Lincoln on trial.

He has admitted to making false statements to police, including that co-defendant Charlie Wakefield was at the scene and that the boy had seen Wakefield give a pair of black gloves to the stabber, Eimantas Gochman, prior to the attack.

The prosecution claims the boy was sent to the scene to watch and report back to Wakefield, who was on tag at the time and complying with a 7pm-7am home curfew.

The boy says he was sent to the area in a taxi paid for by Wakefield to buy cocaine for the pair of them from co-defendant Eric Kesel.

The 17-year-old and Kesel – both of whom knew Gochman – claim it was coincidence that they were near the scene of the stabbing in a park between Lincoln’s Coleridge Gardens and Browning Drive at about 10.45pm on May 27 last year.

The boy, who says he saw Gochman standing on the grass, made a 47-second phone call to Wakefield as he returned to Wakefield’s in the taxi.

The driver told police that the boy mentioned someone’s name in the call and said “He had a f***ing weapon”.

However, when the driver was summonsed to court to give evidence, he told the jury that the boy had said: “He had a f***ing open.”

The youth agreed with prosecution barrister William Harbage QC that “he’s got a f***ing open” did not make sense.

“But ‘he had a f***ing weapon’ would make sense, wouldn’t it?” said Mr Harbage.

“Yeah,” said the boy.

“What did you mean by ‘he had a f***ing weapon’?” asked Mr Harbage.

The defendant replied: “I don’t know because I didn’t say it.”

Mr Harbage added: “I suggest to you that you were in a position to see what was happening in the park. And you were in a position to see someone with a weapon.”

“Yes,” said the boy.

“And you did, didn’t you?” said the barrister.

“I didn’t, no,” was the reply.

The boy was also asked about comments he made to police upon his arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to murder on June 16.

Under caution, he told police: “I wasn’t there. I know who did it.

“It was Eimantas Gochman. Charlie Wakefield was there. I wasn’t there.”

Mr Harbage asked him why he claimed Wakefield was at the scene.

“It came out wrong,” replied the boy. “I wanted to say he was there the day after.”

The defendant was told that nothing had stopped him from saying “the day after” if that were the case.

Mr Harbage added: “You were there so why did you say you weren’t there?

“Did you deliberately swap over the truth? Instead of saying ‘I was there, Charlie wasn’t’ you decided to lie and say ‘Charlie was there and I wasn’t’.”

The boy replied: “No, it just came out wrong, like I said.”

Mr Harbage also challenged the boy over his reasons for trying to self-harm while in custody and suggested it was a “cry for help”.

“Were you upset about what you got yourself involved in?” said Mr Harbage.

The boy said “no”.

“Is that why you’ve lied about the conversation in the taxi?” he was asked.

“Lied about the gloves?

“Lied to cover up your own involvement?”

The boy replied “no” to each question.

His defence barrister, Andrew Campbell-Tiech QC, asked him: “Did you intentionally set out to mislead police?”

The boy replied. “I didn’t mean to. I was just scared at the time and saying the first thing that came into my head.”

The boy has completed giving his evidence, the fifth defendant to go into the witness box.

Billy Gill has declined to give evidence.

All seven defendants face one count of murder, which they all deny.

They are Billy Gill, 21, of Hatcliffe Gardens; Eimantas Gochman, 20, of Sturton Close; Daniel Heydari, 25, of Chestnut Street; Joe Jameson, 24, of Whitehall Terrace; 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.

The trial continues.

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