Shrewsbury murder accused in panic after attack, jury told
Three men accused of murdering a Shropshire man in a recreation ground car park spent the minutes after the attack 'panicking' in a car, a court heard,
Peter Clinton, Damen McDonough and Aaron Doran drove around the Shrewsbury area in shock after Clinton is said to have stabbed 23-year-old Scott Cooke through the heart.
Mr Cooke, 23, died after he was stabbed during an altercation at Monkmoor Recreation Ground in Shrewsbury on December 27 last year.
Clinton, 25, of Caradoc View, Hanwood, near Shrewsbury, McDonough, 24, of Darville, Shrewsbury and Doran, 25, of Cornmill Square, Shrewsbury, all deny murder.
They all also deny a charge of aggravated burglary at a house in Abbots Road, Shrewsbury, on the same day.
Earlier, the jury had heard that two groups of men, one led by Mr Cooke and the other featuring the three defendants, had agreed to meet at the recreation ground in disagreement over the alleged burglary.
Yesterday Birmingham Crown Court heard McDonough said how the three sat in his car as he drove the others home in a state of shock.
Mr Bob Price, prosecutor, read McDonough's police interviews to the jury, in which he told them how Clinton stabbed Mr Cooke and then they fled the scene.
He said: "Everyone had weapons at the stand-off. Clinton had a knife, Aaron had an axe, I showed my knife so nobody would come near me.
He added: "We got in my car and Aaron was panicking. We were all panicking, that wasn't meant to happen at all. I think Peter was in shock. I don't think he meant to do it, but he still did it. At this point Peter was crying in the back seat. He was in so much shock."
The trial continues.
