Youngsters aged just 13 and 15 and a 20-year old man murdered a student during a knifepoint robbery in which they made off with just a laptop, iPhone and video camera, the Old Bailey heard today.
The 13-year-old, now 14, (defendant B) is one of the youngest in British criminal history to be charged with murder.
He is charged with the murder and robbery of Martin Thomas, 39, on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, along with a 15-year-old, now 16 (defendant A), and Odel Munroe, 20, of Sudbury House, Wandsworth High Street.
Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC opened the trial, estimated to last four to five weeks, today.
He said the story was a simple one in which the three defendants set out that evening to rob Mr Thomas, citing CCTV evidence showing them walking towards Mr Thomas’s address in Huntingfield Road, in Roehampton, and leaving shortly afterwards.
Multiple witnesses reported seeing three black men loitering suspiciously in the road before the killing. One witness, a neighbour, saw three men enter Mr Thomas’s home and heard loud screaming, shouting and thumps before everything went quiet, which spurred a phone call to the police.
When police arrived at Mr Thomas’s address they found blood splatters in the hallway, on the front door and along the skirting board.
Mr Rees said: “On the evening of Tuesday, April 22, the three defendants set off from defendant A’s house intending to rob Mr Thomas in his home.
“Defendant A had armed himself with a knife from his kitchen with which to carry out the robbery. They walked to the address where Mr Thomas was home alone.”
He added: “In the course of the robbery Martin Thomas received five stab wounds to his body, four of which were in his back.
“However, the stab wound that killed him was to the front of his chest; it was a deep wound that went through his left lung and struck the back of his chest causing major bleeding from which he died very quickly. And for what? The evidence suggests that the defendants made off with very little – a phone, a video camera and a laptop.”
The court heard how, on the day of the killing, the 13-year-old, from Wandsworth, told another person he was meeting defendant A to carry out a robbery and said he would get money out of it.
Mr Thomas and defendant A, the largest of the three at 6ft 2in, had been in telephone contact in the three days before his death.
It was unclear why Mr Thomas was contacting defendant A but a text message on the 21st from Mr Thomas read “call me back” and one sent at 6pm on the day of the murder read “are you about?”.
The prosecution said the defendants were caught on a private CCTV camera in Hazlewell Road, just 800m from Mr Thomas’s home.
A next door neighbour heard a knock at the door of Mr Thomas’s house just after 8pm, the court heard. She saw a black man in a fur-lined deerstalker hat who retreated behind a hedge at the front of the house. The prosecution claimed this was defendant A.
The neighbour said it looked like he had something bronze-coloured in his hand and as soon as Mr Thomas opened the door the man ran in. The front door slammed and there was shouting and rumbling.
The Crown argues that defendant A, from Putney, entered the house first and was followed by the smaller two, defendant B and Odel Munroe.
Mr Thomas was found on the kitchen floor with his eyes still open. There was no pulse or signs of breathing and his T-shirt was soaked in blood.
Forensics found “extensive blood staining” in the hallway, on the floor, the walls and on the front door. There was also blood in the kitchen, most of which was Mr Thomas’s, the court heard.
The Crown argues it was defendant A who inflicted the fatal wound to the chest, but that all three defendants were jointly responsible for the murder.
Mr Thomas, 39, originally from Jamaica, was a student at South Thames College and sold cars to supplement his benefits.
He had moved to London from Jamaica to make a better life for himself and wanted to start his own business.
Mr Rees told the court Mr Thomas was a gay man and liked to keep his lifestyle private. He was described as a quiet man who had no enemies and did not take drugs or alcohol.
All three defendants deny murder and robbery.
The trial continues.
- Keep visiting this website for the most up-to-date news on the trial.
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