Gordon Gault death: Newcastle murder-accused teens 'wannabe gangsters'

Gordon Gault died from his wounds six days after being stabbed

Six teenagers accused of murdering a 14-year-old boy in a group attack were "wannabe gangsters" but not criminals, a court has heard.

Gordon Gault died in hospital six days after being struck with a machete in Newcastle in November last year.

Six people, now aged 16 to 18, deny murder and wounding a 17-year-old boy.

Prosecutors have told Newcastle Crown Court the six were "in it together", but lawyers for one said the concept of joint enterprise was "deeply worrying".

Jurors have heard a feud between two rival groups of youths in Newcastle began in the summer of 2022 with them making rap videos mocking each other.

Gordon was fatally wounded by Carlos Neto, 18, on 9 November after the defendant and his five co-accused went to "enemy territory" in the Elswick area of the city to avenge an earlier attack on one of their number, prosecutors said.

Mr Neto has admitted striking Gordon, who was armed with a baseball bat and was riding pillion on a bike, with a machete but claimed he was acting in self-defence.

'Testosterone-fuelled' boys

In his closing speech, Benjamin Nolan KC, who represents 18-year-old Lawson Natty, said one person accepted inflicting the wounds on Gordon and the 17-year-old, both of whom were "up to no good".

But, Mr Nolan said, prosecutors claimed five other youths were equally guilty under joint enterprise laws.

Mr Nolan said joint enterprise was "an anomalous and deeply worrying concept," adding: "Even more so when you consider not one of the other five defendants landed or even aimed a single blow at either victim."

Gordon Gault was stabbed near Elswick Park on 9 November last year

Mr Nolan said the prosecution had tried to portray the youths as an "organised criminal group (OCG)".

"They may have been wannabe gangsters, sure, but were they really a [group] in the sense of an OCG?" Mr Nolan asked, adding none had previous convictions or cautions and that they were not involved in typical OCG activities such as drug-dealing, extortion or people trafficking.

Mr Nolan said there was "undoubtedly" a rivalry between the Benwell-based defendants and Gordon's group from Elswick, but that a "regional rivalry between testosterone-fuelled teenage boys" was "not uncommon" and did not make them criminals.

He said messages exchanged between some of the defendants describing attacking their rivals were "a lot of nonsense".

Mr Nolan said: "Youngsters talk big, youngsters talk brave, youngsters talk another word beginning with B and rather a lot of it."

'Protective machete'

He said rap lyrics written by Mr Natty after the killing may have been "disrespectful, insensitive to the extreme... and even inflammatory" but that was what "drill rap [was] all about".

He said it was an "artform which conforms with conventions", including bravado and violence, adding: "Whatever the lyrics, this was poetic expression."

Mr Nolan said Mr Natty also wrote a "heart-felt lament" urging children listening to his music not to pick up knives, adding: "Despite the brag and bravado there is a sensitive side to Lawson Natty".

Mr Nolan said Mr Natty bought a machete online for "protective purposes" and after accidentally ending up with two he gave one to Mr Neto.

"He carried it for protection, but not for the purposes of killing or injuring anyone nor did he intend that Carlos Neto should kill or injure anyone," Mr Nolan said of Mr Natty on 9 November, adding Mr Natty did not pull the machete out until he threw it away in a wood after the attack.

Mr Nolan said the teenagers only went to Elswick to "show they were not scared" of their rivals by taking pictures which they would later post online.

Two of the defendants, aged 16 and 17, are unable to be identified because of their age. The others, who are all 18, are:

• Carlos Neto, of Manchester Road East, Manchester

• Benedict Mbala, of St John's Walk, Newcastle

• Lawson Natty, of Eastgarth, Newbiggin Hall Estate, Newcastle

• Daniel Lacerda, of Paddock Close, Ferryhill

'Hanger-on'

Peter Makepeace KC, representing the 16-year-old defendant, said the boy was 15 at the time of the stabbing and found himself in a "hellish situation".

He said the boy was a "sheep" who wanted to "fit in with people he saw as older, more savvy and more sophisticated than himself", but there was not a "shred of evidence" that he was part of the group.

The boy was not involved in or even mentioned in any of the messages being exchanged by the group and only knew two of his co-accused because they had lived near him, the court heard.

"He has absolutely nothing to do with the Benwellers, the rap group, whatever they are," Mr Makepeace said, adding he was actually a "rather pathetic hanger-on to the older group that he came across by chance that afternoon".

Mr Makepeace said there was "no evidence" the boy hurt anyone, intended for anyone to get hurt or was even aware of any issues between the rival groups.

'Swagger'

Colin Aylott KC, representing Mr Mbala, urged jurors not to view the messages sent between some of the defendants as "literal".

He said they were the "hyped-up nonsense and bravado of teenage fools" which never came to anything.

Mr Aylott said the language was "shocking, frequently racist and often violent in its tone", but it was just "hyped talk" with the youths "piling on to the conversation".

He likened them to "keyboard warriors" who expressed "warped views on life behind the veil of anonymity" with disinhibition on social media.

Mr Aylott said the messaging group was "one big echo chamber" where the youths would "swagger, boast, big themselves up, talk and sound so tough and hard".

He said jurors also had to be similarly cautious when judging the drill rap lyrics which had "no respect for anything but the extreme" and relied on "dark humour" and violence with "truth and accuracy left behind".

Mr Aylott said the "rhetoric and ranting" in lyrics written after the killing came from the minds of "impulsive and stupid young men" who were "playing at being wannabes".

The trial continues.