FOUR DENY MURDERING WELSH TEENAGER STABBED TO DEATH

A man accused of murdering a teenager had a dispute with him in the weeks before the stabbing, a court has heard. Tristan Kerr, from Abertridwr, bled to death in the street minutes after being stabbed in the heart and lung with a so-called "Zombie knife" on 5 February. Connor Palfrey, Georgie Mears, Elexi Manny and Ricardo Elliot all deny murder under joint enterprise at Newport Crown Court. A witness, Ieuan Crane, said Palfrey and Kerr had resolved a dispute after Kerr chased Palfrey with his dog weeks before the stabbing.

Crane told the court he, Kerr and two other men were in his living room on Lower Francis Street, Abertridwr, playing computer games when Palfrey and Mears burst in through the unlocked front door. He said Kerr "didn't have a chance to do anything" before the attack began. In a recorded police interview played to the jury, Crane said Palfrey carried a block of wood that "might" have had a nail in it, while Mears attacked Kerr several times with what he later described as a "Zombie, Rambo blade" knife. Crane said he tried to pull Mears away but stopped after Palfrey threatened him with the wood, and that Kerr and another friend, known as "Custard", escaped through the back door.

The case is being heard before a jury, with Palfrey, Mears, Manny and Elliot all having entered pleas of not guilty to murder. Joint enterprise means prosecutors do not need to prove which defendant struck the fatal blow, only that each assisted or encouraged the attack. Crane's evidence forms part of the case against the four defendants. The trial is continuing, with further evidence due to be heard.