Leeds murder trial: teen stabbed five times after pre-planned fight over boyfriend
Chloe Watson Dransfield, 16, was fatally stabbed in Austhorpe, Leeds, in March. Three defendants are on trial at Leeds Crown Court accused of her murder.
Teenager killed in pre-dawn attack arranged over phone threats, jury told
A 16-year-old girl was stabbed to death in a pre-arranged street fight over a boy, Leeds Crown Court has heard, as itv.com reports from the opening of the murder trial.
Chloe Watson Dransfield was found with fatal injuries at an address on Kennerleigh Avenue, in Austhorpe, Leeds, in the early hours of Saturday 28 March. She was taken by ambulance to hospital but was pronounced dead at 6.40am.
Kayla Smith and Blake Dowling, both 18, and Archie Rycroft, 20, are all on trial accused of her murder.
Threats made the night before
Prosecutor Mark McKone told jurors that Smith had threatened to stab Chloe over the phone after discovering she was with Dowling — with whom both girls had been in a relationship — the day before.
The two girls agreed to fight, and Dowling booked a taxi to bring Chloe to Smith's home in the early hours of 28 March.
During the night, witness Charlotte Parker, who was in the house with Chloe and Dowling, said she heard Chloe telling Smith over the phone: "I'm not scared of you, I'm sick of you threatening me, you're still dying over Blake, sending him messages that you still love him."
Parker said she heard Smith "screaming" in response: "I'm gonna stab you… speaking about my dead baby."
A friend of Chloe's who was on FaceTime with her that night told the court she heard Smith shouting down the phone: "Blake I'm gonna smash your head in… you better not be with no girls… Chloe better not be there." When Chloe confirmed she was present, the friend heard Smith say: "I'm gonna stab you in your throat."
Two hours before Chloe's death, Smith sent Dowling a message reading: "Listen, I love you Blake. I will never find someone that I love like you. Please stop."
Chloe messaged her own friend saying she was "off to go fight Kayla" and sent a photograph of herself in the taxi.
CCTV and doorbell footage shown to jury
McKone told the court that CCTV footage showed Smith leaving her summer house — where she lived in her grandfather's garden — at 5.10am, wearing pyjamas and "striding quickly" with her right hand raised, holding something shiny.
Ring doorbell footage played in court showed Smith shouting: "Come on, big girl," before prosecutors allege she can be heard saying: "Come on then, I will stab you."
The stabbing itself was not captured on the doorbell camera, but jurors were told that a male could be heard laughing during the footage.
Smith approached Chloe and stabbed her five times in the neck and back, McKone said. Rycroft was seen on the footage walking behind Smith and holding a phone. Prosecutors allege he filmed the attack using Smith's phone after she "must have handed him her phone for this purpose." A video was subsequently deleted from the device and has never been recovered.
Aftermath: laughing and using nitrous oxide
CCTV footage captured at 5.12am — approximately one minute after the stabbing — shows Smith and Rycroft with Smith's grandfather, Geoff Smith, outside the summer house. Geoff Smith is heard saying "I'm ringing the police," to which Smith replies: "You can't ring the police, she's dead."
Geoff Smith called for an ambulance 37 minutes after the stabbing. A neighbour witnessed him performing CPR on Chloe on the footpath.
When police arrived to arrest Smith and Rycroft, the pair were described as "laughing and joking" with two friends and using nitrous oxide in front of officers, McKone said.
Defendants' positions
Smith has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder. Dowling denies both murder and manslaughter, telling the court he did not know Chloe would be caused really serious harm. Rycroft, who also denies murder and manslaughter, said he followed Smith out of curiosity and did not see that she was carrying a knife.
The trial at Leeds Crown Court continues.
Source: The Sun