Gordon Gault death: Newcastle accused killers 'ran from fight'

Gordon Gault died from his wounds six days after being stabbed

Teenagers accused of murdering a 14-year-old boy in a feud were running away from fighting their rivals, 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 youngsters went to "ambush" a rival, but the defendants' lawyers said they were attacked as they fled.

The court has heard there was a rivalry between the Benwell-based defendants and youths from Elswick, which started last summer with rap videos mocking and threatening each other.

'Military precision'

On 9 November, one of the defendants, Benedict Mbala, was attacked with the beating filmed and shared on social media.

Prosecutors said the six accused youths, some of whom were armed with machetes and a hammer, went to Elswick Park to attack someone in revenge, with Gordon fatally wounded as he rode pillion on the back of a bike.

The defendants said they went to the park to take videos showing they were not scared, but when their rivals started gathering they ran.

One of them, Carlos Neto, stabbed Gordon who was armed with a baseball bat. Mr Neto says it was in self-defence.

In his closing speech, Jason Pitter KC, representing Mr Neto, said his group were "clueless boys", while Gordon's associates "sprang into life with almost military precision" after they became aware of their rivals being in the park.

Jurors have seen CCTV footage of several of the rivals, including Gordon, pulling on blue latex gloves and retrieving weapons before rushing to the park.

Mr Pitter said Gordon's group, which included adults, assembled at the park's north entrance then "split into units" as the defendants ran to the south gate on to Westmorland Road.

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

Mr Neto said he was caught by two people on the bike and swung his machete to stop himself being hit by Gordon, who was holding a "shiny" object later found to be the baseball bat.

Prosecutors allege Mr Neto carried out a "sneak attack" on Gordon, but Mr Pitter said the single injury to Gordon's arm which severed an artery did not support that.

"It wouldn't have been through the arm if [Mr Neto] was trying to kill or cause serious injury," Mr Pitter said.

Similarly, the single wound to the back of the 17-year-old victim caused moments later was also consistent with Mr Neto "stabbing out once to protect himself", Mr Pitter said, adding there was "evidence to support that [the victim] was the aggressor".

'Ran and ran'

He said messages previously exchanged between the rivals showed they wanted to "target" Mr Neto, who had been stabbed in the buttock several weeks before by unknown assailants and carried a machete to "protect himself".

Mr Pitter said messages and rap lyrics written by Mr Neto about attacking rivals before and after the killing were a "persona" and "make believe".

He said some of the lyrics showed talent which was "hidden in a morass of bragging and playing up to the image of being a killer" in the "unrealistic belief that is what brings fame".

He said the defendants were "clueless boys who were playing hard", but when they were confronted by their rivals in the park they "ran and ran".

Colin Aylott KC, representing Mr Mbala, said the defendants "sprinted away without the remotest intent to engage", while Gordon and his group were seen "co-ordinating almost like a pincer movement".

Mr Aylott said CCTV footage of the defendants in the park showed them "hiding" with a "clear picture of inertia and cluelessness", a "far cry from an organised ride out into the ops' (opponents) block".

He said Mr Mbala's "lack of appetite for violence" was shown by his "capitulation" during the "nasty and unpleasant" attack he was subjected to outside Gateshead College earlier in the day.

Mr Aylott said Mr Mbala engaged in "talk" on Snapchat about stabbing people but he was unarmed when he went to Elswick Park, which he wouldn't have been if he had planned to attack someone.

He said finding Mr Mbala guilty of the charges would "strain the doctrine of joint enterprise further than it should go", adding he had "not laid a finger" on either Gordon or the wounded boy.

'Dirty work'

The court heard Mr Mbala twice went to woods to attempt to clean a knife with bleach and make "pathetic attempts" to use vegetable oil to burn clothes dumped by his co-accused after the attack.

Mr Aylott said Mr Mbala was persuaded to do so by his friends who saw him as a "soft touch" and joked about his low intellect, "relying on him to do their dirty work".

Mr Aylott said Mr Mbala declined to give evidence at the trial, the only defendant not to do so, because the "burden" was on prosecutors to prove his guilt and their case against him was "so weak it didn't require an answer to it".

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

Toby Hedworth KC, representing Mr Lacerda, said the teenager was an "outsider" from another part of town who was "desperately wanting to be part of a group".

He said Mr Lacerda said "stupid things" in group chats to "try and gain peer group acceptance", but was "talking the talk but never actually walking the walk".

Mr Lacerda was there on 9 November but "did nothing", Mr Hedworth said, adding he had no weapon and "played no role other than to follow along".

Mr Hedworth said he was a "big-talker" who "ran away", adding he was a "wannabe, a kid who wanted to gain acceptance by sounding tough but who [was] in reality a nothing".

The trial continues.