Man had 'throat cut by killing team' - court told

Owen Fairclough was found by a group of teenagers on 23 June 2023 in a stream with fatal injuries

A 21-year-man was lured to his death in a secluded spot where his killers were "lying in wait for him", a murder trial heard.

Owen Fairclough, from Long Eaton in Derbyshire, was found dead in a stream by a country path near Risley Lane in Breaston, Derbyshire.

A jury was told his throat had been cut and he had two stab wounds to his body.

Jack Towell, 22, of Castle Boulevard, Nottingham, David Oswald, 31, from Birmingham, and two other men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, deny his murder.

The prosecution said Mr Towell "became convinced" Mr Fairclough was going to inform on him to the police and implicate others in their criminal activity - namely drug dealing.

Prosecutor Peter Joyce KC said Mr Towell and the victim had been "very good friends" and that they were aware of "each other's criminal activity".

In the days before Mr Fairclough's death, Mr Towell had become convinced the victim was going to talk to the police and it would implicate other people if he did so, the jury heard.

'Pathetic coded talk'

Mr Fairclough had kept asking Mr Towell to give him back £1,000 in cash that he owed him, the court heard.

The Crown said messages and calls between the four defendants in the days and hours before the killing were akin to a plan to murder Mr Fairclough.

Mr Joyce told the jury about messages between Mr Towell and Man B, which Mr Joyce read out to the jury.

"This was pathetic coded talk... all this fuss and panic is about [the killing]," he added.

"This may well be the key to the case."

The prosecution opened the case at Derby Crown Court on Tuesday

The court was told Mr Oswald, who was allegedly "recruited" to assist, travelled from Birmingham to Long Eaton and was picked up by Mr Towell and Man A.

They then travelled to Breaston by taxi, in which Mr Joyce said the "killing team had now been assembled".

Mr Fairclough arrived and was met by Mr Towell who "lured him" to a "secluded spot" where Mr Oswald and Man A were "lying in wait for him", the jury heard.

Mr Joyce said: "All four of them had planned to kill Owen Fairclough in the preceding days."

Mr Fairclough was found by a group of teenagers on 23 June 2023 in a stream with fatal injuries. They called the emergency services, but when paramedics arrived, he was already dead.

Mr Fairclough's father had reported his son missing to the police when he did not return home that evening.

The trial continues.