A 6-week trial at the Central Criminal Court concluded with the defendant being convicted of the single count faced, the manslaughter of a 16-year-old boy.
One of a series of linked trials, the case entered around the activities of an eight-man team who on the night in question embarked upon a ‘ride-out’, armed with large knives and machetes, in order to take revenge upon those the group perceived had earlier provided the location of a fellow senior gang member who had been stabbed by rivals. Upon attending a third address, the group had forced their way into the victim’s property and stabbed him in the bedroom of, and in front of, his mother, leaving him with unsurvivable injuries. Shortly after the incident, the defendant then fled the jurisdiction. After an extended period abroad, he was then tried as the last remaining identified suspect.
The case involved the calling of expert forensic science, pathology and cell-site evidence, and the presentation and collation of detailed CCTV footage and telephone download material.
Rupert Kent was instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service Homicide Team as junior counsel, led by Duncan Atkinson KC of 6KBW College Hill.
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