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Timothy Stilwell |
Verdict due in murder case
Defendants tell conflicting stories
Verdicts are expected within days at the Old Bailey trial of four young men who deny the “heinous” murder of a defenceless victim on a Swiss Cottage estate.
Leading defence QCs for the former friends yesterday (Wednesday) urged jurors not to make any decisions on a “joint enterprise” basis, because of the lack of evidence.
The jury has heard conflicting accounts from the defendants, each shifting any blame from themselves and pointing the finger of guilt at others in the dock.
“There is plenty of suspicion but very little evidence. There is no room in these courts for guesswork and speculation,” said William Clegg QC for Scott Robinies.
Nigel Litham QC, for Ricky Parrett, said there had been “a cowardly displacement of blame” on his client by others “desperate” to escape justice over the brutal murder of Timothy Stilwell.
Michael Borelli QC, for Sean Allen, had earlier said to Robinies: “I’m going suggest you stabbed Mr Stilwell to death and then put your friends in a terrible situation.”
Allen’s was one of the two footprints left in blood at the flat where 49-year-old Mr Stilwell was lodging.
Roderick Johnson QC, for Stephen Barton, whose mother Tracey, 45, was a visitor and drinker at the murder scene, said that although he hung out with the others and was in the area, he had been falsely implicated as an attacker.
Judge Richard Hawkins QC is due to begin his summing up to the jury today (Thursday).
In co-ordinated dawn swoops, officers from Scotland Yard’s Specialist Crime Directorate arrested the four on November 14 last year over the death of the market stall worker.
He was fast asleep in a friend’s flat on the first floor of the Rowley Way estate, Abbey Road, when raiders “after revenge” burst in and attacked him with clubs and knives, the court heard.
A week earlier the flat had also been targeted when the patio doors were shattered.
“He was stabbed more than 20 times” said prosecutor David Howker QC. Mr Stilwell and his pal, Ahmed Ghabi, 50, the tenant of the flat, had earlier been involved in run-ins with youths congregating on the estate.
It is alleged that a gang broke into the flat through the patio doors on June 18 last year while Mr Stilwell was asleep on the sofa. As he was being battered and knifed, terrified Mr Ghabi hid in a bathroom cupboard.
Sean Allen, 20, of Halleys Way, Luton, who formerly lived on the estate; Stephen Barton, 22, of Freeling House, West Hampstead; Ricky Parrett, 19, of Casterbridge, Abbey Road; and Scott Robinies, 21, of Conway House, Quex Road, Kilburn, all deny murder.
All admit they had been drinking near the flat in which Mr Stilwell was attacked. They further plead not guilty to conspiracy to cause serious bodily harm and violent disorder.
Jurors heard that the attack on the flat came about because of unfounded rumours that “a wrong-un” was living there, suggesting a paedophile. |
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