Summary

  • Day 22 of the trial of four people accused of murdering Jodie Chesney, 17.

  • Murder accused denies 'throwing friend under bus'

  • Court heard killer targeted the 'wrong people'

  • Jodie was stabbed to death while with friends in Harold Hill 1 March

  • Manuel Petrovic, 20, and Svenson Ong-a-kwie, 19, deny murder

  • Two boys aged 16 and 17, also deny killing Jodie

Live Reporting

Sarah Lee and Claire Timms

  1. Jury back

    The jury has returned from the break.

    Crispin Aylett QC will continue questioning Svenson Ong-a-Kwie before being re-examined by the other barristers.

    It is unlikely the 17-year-old defendant will be called for evidence today, due to his barrister Natasha Wong QC wanting to speak with him beforehand.

  2. Jury mid-morning break

    The court has risen for a mid-morning break.

    The trial will resume at 12:05.

  3. 'Did you go into the park to collect a weapon?'

    Lawns ParkGoogle

    When waiting for Manuel Petrovic to arrive at Hillfoot Road to pick up Mr Ong-a-Kwie and the 17-year-old defendant, the two boys went into Lawns Park - not far from Mr Ong-a-Kwie's hostel - to "chill".

    "Where you going to pick up a weapon?" Mr Aylett asked.

    "No," Mr Ong-a-Kwie replied.

    "Were you trying to avoid being seen on CCTV getting into Manuel's car?" Mr Aylett asked.

    "I couldn't have known where the CCTV was," he replied.

    "But you said you were in a rush to get to your customer in Harold Hill. You could have only been in the park for a few minutes?" Mr Aylett said.

    "Yeah," Mr Ong-a-Kwie replied.

  4. 'Manuel knew lift would involve violence?'

    Retford RoadGoogle

    When the taxi driver refused to give Mr Ong-a-Kwie a lift, the 19-year-old defendant called Manuel Petrovic to ask if he would take him to Harold Hill.

    "He didn't want to do it did he? Because he knew it would involve violence, isn't that right? Mr Aylett said.

    "No, that's not right," Mr Ong-a-Kwie replied.

  5. 'You wanted to bang out on your ops'

    CCTV shows Manuel Petrovic's Vauxhall driving away from Harold Hill

    Before the four defendants arrived at Retford Road on 1 March, Mr Ong-a-Kwie had tried to arrange a taxi to take him to multiple areas to "do his shots" (drug deals).

    The taxi driver refused however, as he had a Heathrow job booked.

    "You didn't want to get a taxi because he would be a witness to what you were about to do in Harold Hill - to bang out on your ops. That's the truth isn't it," Mr Aylett said.

    "No, that's not true," he replied.

  6. Knife found in hostel 'was for cooking'

    Police discovered a knife on top of a fridge in Svenson Ong-a-Kwie's room during a search of the hostel he was staying in.

    "What was this knife for?" Mr Aylett asked.

    "For cooking and that. I'd cook chicken and that. My mum gave it to me so I could cook food. The hostel only had butter knives," Mr Ong-a-Kwie said.

    Mr Aylett drew attention to the defence statement where the defendant once said the hostel's kitchen knives were blunt.

    "Yes, you had to sign for them. I never used them," Mr Ong-a-Kwie said.

  7. 'I fight with my hands'

    Talking of the attack on 6 September, Mr Ong-a-Kwie said: "I don't carry knives, I fight with my hands."

    "But you hang around with people who do don't you?" Mr Aylett asked.

    "Well apparently yeah. I've known the 17-year-old defendant before he started carrying knives," he replied.

    "I told him it was over after 6 September. We fell out. I didn't see him much until a few days before 1 March," he went on.

    "Are you telling the truth about that?" Mr Aylett asked.

    "Yes. I am," he replied.

  8. 'You can't go around stabbing people'

    SvensonJulia Quenzler

    Mr Ong-a-Kwie is going over an incident from 6 September 2018 when he and another dealer had a fight with two other boys at a bus stop.

    It was an argument over a girl, he said.

    Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the attack.

    "You and your friend got off your motorbike [a £800 MT09 motorbike] and attacked the other two, didn't you?"

    "Yes I suppose so," Mr Ong-a-Kwie said.

    One of the boys - the unintended target - was stabbed in the neck by Mr Ong-a-Kwie's colleague.

    The 17-year-old defendant, who was in a car behind Mr Ong-a-Kwie's motorbike, got out and joined in with the attack, the court heard.

    He "accidentally" stabbed Mr Ong-a-Kwie in the hand.

    "Was the 17-year-old defendant trying to impress you? You are several years older than him aren't you?" Mr Aylett said.

    "I told him the next day he can't go around stabbing people," Mr Ong-a-Kwie replied.

  9. 'Given a knife to protect myself'

    Mr Ong-a-Kwie agreed with Mr Aylett that drug dealing could be profitable but dangerous.

    Talking of his knife offence in Suffolk in 2016, he said he was given the knife to protect himself from "other drug dealers in the area".

  10. 'I was friends with Manuel'

    Svenson and ManuelJulia Quenzler

    "You told Mr Sherrard (Mr Ong-a-Kwie's defence barrister) that you started working with Manuel in 2018," Mr Aylett said.

    "Yeah, after I got stabbed," Mr Ong-a-Kwie replied.

    "You didn't tell Manuel that you had been stabbed until a lot later. Is there any reason you didn't tell him earlier?" Mr Aylett asked.

    "No," Mr Ong-a-Kwie said.

    Mr Ong-a-Kwie said he was "friends" with Manuel Petrovic and would chat to him on the phone, on WhatsApp, and on Twitter.

  11. What have we learned from Svenson Ong-a-Kwie?

    SvensonJulia Quenzler

    During his questioning yesterday, Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, 19, revealed a lot about himself as well as unheard details of his movements in the days after Jodie's death.

    The facts heard in court included:

    • He blames his 17-year-old co-defendant for the murder of Jodie Chesney
    • He insisted that he "did not go" to Amy's Park "to kill anyone" but to "drop off drugs"
    • On the night of 1 March - shortly after Jodie was attacked - he asked Manuel Petrovic to bring him some clothes
    • He disagrees with what Jodie's boyfriend Eddie Coyle said in his evidence [that a taller dark skinned boy swung his arm and stabbed Jodie in the back] and told jurors that he had a "phone" in his hand and not a knife
    • He heard Jodie scream as he ran from the park
    • The day after Jodie was stabbed to death, he spent the night in a Premier Inn in Romford with his girlfriend
    • He set fire to his clothes he was wearing on the night of 1 March

  12. Svenson Ong-a-Kwie enters witness box

    Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, wearing a white polo shirt and black trousers, has entered the witness box where he will be questioned by prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC.

  13. What happened yesterday?

    SvensonJulia Quenzler

    Svenson Ong-a-Kwie

    Yesterday, Svenson Ong-a-Kwie told jurors he set fire to his clothes the day after Jodie was stabbed.

    He also threw his iPhone into a bin and dumped the trainers he was wearing on the evening of 1 March in Amy's Park.

    Mr Ong-a-Kwie continued to insist to jurors that he had "never" been violent to anybody in the past.

    "I have never stabbed anybody in my life," he said. "You're trying to suggest that one day I would just walk up and stab someone?

    "The police can't say my name is responsible for stabbing someone. Ever.

    "I take responsibility for burning my clothes."

    Mr Ong-a-Kwie then accepted that he took his trainers in a bag to "dump them".

    "The teenager told me I could have been contaminated in the park because I was standing next to him.

    "That's why I got rid of my clothes and my trainers."

  14. Welcome

    JodieFamily handout

    Welcome to the 22nd day of the trial into two teenagers and two men accused with the murder of 17-year-old Jodie Chesney.

    Today, prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC is expected to finish questioning Svenson Ong-a-Kwie.

    The public gallery has filled up throughout the morning.

    The 17-year-old defendant is expected to enter the witness box in the afternoon, where he will be questioned about his involvement in Jodie's death.