Barry stab murder accused: 'All I wanted was my drugs'

Harry Baker's body was found in a container yard in Barry Docks, in August 2019

A man accused of murdering a teenager in Barry Docks says "most of the youngsters carry tools" when he was quizzed about drug dealers being armed.

But Ryan Palmer, 34, told Newport Crown Court that on the day Harry Baker was stabbed to death he was unaware other defendants were carrying knives.

Harry, 17 and from Cardiff, was found dead with nine knife wounds in a shipping container yard in August 2019.

Six men and a boy, who cannot be named, deny murdering Harry.

Mr Palmer told the jury he did not know some of his drug dealing co-defendants "carried a knife" and "all I wanted was my drugs" - supplies he had paid for in advance.

'Swinging knives in road'

Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC asked him about the moment Harry was "ambushed" near a Nisa store in Barry, by some of the defendants.

Mr Palmer said two defendants, Harry and Harry's friend were all carrying "big knives" and "they were all in the middle of the road swinging at each other".

When asked if he thought someone would get "seriously hurt", he said: "Honestly no, I was going to buy drugs".

He accepted "you don't see" knife fights in the streets of Barry, "but you hear about them".

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"When you're in that lifestyle, it's just a norm to you," Mr Palmer told the court.

But referring to the knife fight, he said: "It was nothing to do with me, all I wanted was my drugs".

Jurors have been shown CCTV footage of the defendants chasing Harry Baker, but Mr Palmer denied chasing him.

'A heavy drug user'

When the court was shown footage from Wimborne Road in Barry Docks that shows Mr Palmer picking up a piece of wood, he said he did this because "they all got knives and we're over the docks".

He explained that if a drug user is a "good money tree" drug dealers will give you more drugs, "so they've got you in your pocket".

He said: "I'm a heavy drug user".

He agreed it was a "coincidence" that some of his co-defendants appeared as he was about to buy supplies.

"All I know that we were going to purchase drugs," he said.

Mr Palmer has previously told jurors he followed his co-defendants in chasing Harry because he was still waiting for his drugs.

The trial continues.