15 November 2023 , 17:26
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A 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death by a rival group of six youths against a background of tit-for-tat violence, a court has been told.
Teenager Gordon Gault was stabbed in Newcastle’s West End on November 9, 2022 and died six days later in hospital, jurors were told. Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, said two armed groups clashed and Gordon and another youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were stabbed.
Outlining the case to the jury, Mr Sandiford said some rap lyrics and notes written on some of the defendants’ phones will form part of the evidence in the trial, which could last six weeks. He told Newcastle Crown Court Gordon and the other youth – who survived – were attacked out of revenge for one of the defendants, Carlos Neto, now 18, being stabbed, or “cheffed”, in the bottom some weeks before.
Gordon Gault died in hospital (ChronicleLive)
He was just 14 (ChronicleLive)On the day of the fatal stabbing, his co-accused Benedict Mbala, also now 18, was assaulted outside his college, with a humiliating video clip of the attack being shared on social media. Mr Sandiford said the defendants’ group armed themselves with two machetes of the type used by the British Army Gurkha regiment, kitchen knives and a lump hammer, then went into the territory of their rivals, known as a “vio”, or violation.
He said there was a feud, or “beef” between the groups, and it “involved tit-for-tat violence and threats of violence before and after the stabbings”. The defendants Benedict Mbala, Carlos Neto, Daniel Lacerda, 18, Lawson Natty, 18, and two youths aged 17 and 16 who cannot be identified, all deny murder and a charge of wounding with intent on the other alleged victim. The trial continues.
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