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Richard Whelan |
Knifing victim ‘stood up to chip-thrower’
Girlfriend relives stabbing on bus
A GRIEVING woman has again publicly relived the moment her boyfriend was fatally knifed on a bus by a “laughing” stranger.
A fight began when Richard Whelan went to challenge Anthony Joseph, who had been throwing greasy chips at passengers on the top deck, the Old Bailey heard.
Legal secretary Kerry Barker, 38, described how moments later she saw blood over Mr Whelan’s shirt and he told her: “I've been stabbed.”
It was the second time Miss Barker had recalled the stabbing in court. She gave evidence at a trial in May when jurors were unable to agree a verdict.
Miss Barker was in tears on Tuesday as she told the court how she and Mr Whelan were on their way to her home on July 29, 2005, when the 28-year-old corporate hospitality agent left his seat beside her on a 43 bus in Holloway to remonstrate about the chip throwing.
He was stabbed six times. One fatal wound was to the heart.
There is no dispute that Joseph, 23, of Thesus Walk, Islington, stabbed him, said prosecutor Victor Temple, QC. Joseph denies murder.
“He had a distinguishable smile or smirk and seemed weird,” Mr Temple said. “A woman passenger moved to the lower deck when she was hit by chips. Richard Whelan was not prepared to sit tight and do nothing.”
Miss Barker told the court: “A chip landed on my lap. Richard got up and went towards the back of the bus where the man was throwing the chips.
“I turned and saw what I thought was them fighting. Richard gave a weak type of slap to the man’s back.
“I began screaming and ringing the bell. I could see Richard was in trouble.”
When Joseph left the top deck she saw a knife with a blade three to four inches long in his hand.
Mr Whelan, from Kentish Town, collapsed on the lower deck. He was taken by ambulance to Whittington Hospital in Archway, but Miss Barker was prevented from accompanying him. “When I got there I was told he was dead,” she wept.
Answering Philip Katz, QC, defending, she said it was totally out of character for Mr Whelan to be involved in confrontations.
The trial continues. |
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