Byron Griffin: Murder trial hears stabbed man was ambushed

Byron Griffin was found injured in Ilkeston and died in hospital

A trial has been told four men lay in wait to "ambush" a man who was fatally stabbed in Derbyshire.

Byron Griffin, 22, was found stabbed in Eyre's Garden, Ilkeston, on 4 July 2021 and later died in hospital.

Dylan Geary, 22, Daniel Lewsley, 32, Jordan Fairbrother, 26 and Grant James Masterson, 29, all originally from Ilkeston, have denied murder.

At Derby Crown Court the prosecution said all four had a "shared intention" to attack Mr Griffin.

Hidden weapon

Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones QC told the jury a fight broke out when Mr Griffin, from East Leake, arrived outside flats in Great Northern Close.

Mr Lloyd-Jones said all four defendants were either already armed - with Mr Masterson having a machete, Mr Lewsley a collapsible baton and Mr Fairbrother a kitchen knife - or would get a weapon, with Mr Geary grabbing a baseball bat that was hidden behind a drainpipe.

This, he claimed, showed the attack was a pre-planned "ambush".

Alleyway chase

Mr John Lloyd-Jones QC said: "Whatever disagreement started this incident, Byron Griffin did not need to be stabbed.

"He was unarmed, separated from his friends and was effectively defenceless.

"A kitchen knife has been plunged into his chest."

Witnesses, he said, had seen Mr Griffin hit with a machete, stabbed with a knife and then chased up a nearby alleyway.

A subsequent search of Mr Lewsley's flat by police recovered a knife, hidden in a bag of dog food, which had both Mr Lewsley's and Mr Fairbrother's DNA on it, the court heard.

The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.