Murder-accused teen 'deliberately missed' victim

Lewis Bell was killed in September

A teenager accused of murdering a man in a drugs gang attack "deliberately missed" hitting him with a hammer, a court has heard.

Prosecutors said Lewis Bell, 26, was chased down like prey and fatally stabbed in the back in September in Stockton as part of a drugs feud.

Liam Matthews, 26, Sean McLeod, 23, and Ashton White, who can now be named after turning 18, all deny murder.

Mr White said he joined in the chase as he feared he would be attacked if he did not.

Jurors have heard the case revolved around a crack cocaine den on Norton Road in Stockton whose management suspected Mr Bell of robbing other visitors.

On the night of 18 September, Mr Bell was chased from the drugs den and attacked on a residential street, his death caused by a 5in (12.5cm) stab wound to his back which penetrated his lung causing catastrophic blood loss.

Mr Bell and his alleged killers all used the same drugs den on Norton Road

Mr White, of Rudyard Avenue in Stockton, told jurors he left school at 16 with GCSEs in English, science, PE and cooking and went on to complete a course in mechanics at Middlesbrough College.

But he started "moving around with the wrong crowd" while spending time with an old friend and began selling drugs, the court heard.

Mr White told jurors he had been selling crack cocaine for about two weeks from the drugs den on Norton Road, completing four or five transactions, before Mr Bell was killed.

The then-17-year-old said he had spent most of 18 September at the house cutting crack cocaine into individual portions.

Two men and a teenager are on trial at Teesside Crown Court

At about midnight, his co-accused Mr Matthews, who he had only met for the first time a few hours earlier and who had been acting erratically and aggressively after taking drugs, ran in and said something was happening outside, Mr White said.

"I thought we were under attack from either rival drug dealers or someone else trying to take the drugs," Mr White said.

The teenager said he grabbed a hammer from the top of a fridge to "protect" himself and followed Mr Matthews outside, where he saw his two co-accused and Mr Bell.

Mr Mathews was shouting and "stormed over to Mr Bell aggressively", Mr White said, and Mr Bell "took off running".

The teenager claimed Mr Matthews said "let's go get him" and the pursuit began, adding: "I chased as well thinking if I did not I would be attacked [by Mr Matthews]."

'Didn't want to hurt him'

He said he was further behind the other two pursuers as they raced on to Hills Drive but caught up with them and Mr Bell on a driveway.

The teenager said Mr Bell was lying in a puddle of blood and Mr Matthews was slashing towards him with a knife, although he could not say how many times or if any connected.

Mr White said he pulled the hammer out of his waistband and swung at Mr Bell but "deliberately missed", adding: "I didn't want to hurt him."

The teenager said he wanted his co-accused to believe he had joined in the attack as he feared they would target him if he did not join in.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage in which Mr Bell could be heard shouting for help, repeatedly crying "no" and pleading for the attack to stop before calling for someone to ring an ambulance.

'Get out of area'

Mr Matthews can be seen repeatedly slashing at Mr Bell and kicking him before leaving, with Mr Bell then knocking on a house door while clutching his back before collapsing.

Mr White said he was shocked at the amount of blood and ran away in a panic.

Asked by his barrister, Peter Moulson KC, if he had any motive for hurting or killing Mr Bell, Mr White replied: "No."

"Did you want Mr Bell to be killed?" Mr Moulson asked.

Mr White replied: "No."

Afterwards, he threw the hammer in a bush and was with Mr Matthews until the following lunchtime before getting a taxi to Middlesbrough to "get out of the area".

He was arrested but made no comment in his police interviews.

"That's what I was told to do by the solicitor," the teenager said, adding he didn't know what else to do.

A fourth man, Macauley Wright, 26, of Humewood Grove in Stockton, has admitted assisting an offender.

The trial continues.