Tavis Spencer-Aitkens: Teenager killed by gang to 'settle score'

Tavis Spencer-Aitkens, 17, died in hospital after being stabbed in the heart in June

A teenager was killed by members of a rival gang who stabbed him 15 times and smashed a bottle over his head to "settle the score", a court has heard.

Tavis Spencer-Aitkens, 17, died after the attack yards from his home in Ipswich on 2 June.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said Tavis was murdered by rivals seeking revenge after an altercation hours earlier in the town centre.

Five men and a 16-year-old boy deny murder, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Jurors were told Tavis was friends with a group calling themselves Neno or The Three, after the IP3 postcode and the Nacton estate area of Ipswich where they are from.

The group recorded music and posted rap videos on YouTube.

'Loss of respect'

Mr Glasgow said the attackers were from a group known as J-Block, after the Jubilee Park area, and both groups rapped about their rivalry.

The court heard that prior to the attack on Tavis two members of J-Block hid in a shop after they were spotted by two members of Neno.

Tavis had just left the shops in Queen's Way, Ipswich, when he was attacked

The J-Block members sought revenge for the "loss of respect" and "tragically for Tavis Spencer-Aitkens he was the rival that they came across".

According to the prosecution, five of the defendants armed themselves with weapons and "chased down their target".

A sixth defendant, Leon Glasgow, 42, of no fixed address, was their driver and without his help the attack could never have happened, the court heard.

The remaining defendants are 23-year-old Aristote Yenge, of no fixed address, Callum Plaats, 23, of Ipswich, Adebayo Amusa, 20, of Barking, east London, Isaac Calver, 19, of Ipswich, and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named.

The trial continues.