Phil Bradley QC and Sharon Bahia of No5 Barrister’s Chambers are prosecuting the murder trial of an amateur footballer stabbed through the heart.
Ryan Passey, 24, was fatally wounded at Chicago’s nightclub, Rye Market, Stourbridge on August 6 last year. Kobe Murray, 19, of The Broadway, Dudley, denies murder.
Mr Passey, an amateur footballer from Brierley Hill, was out with friends, and it is alleged that Murray plunged the blade into his chest after only ’some punches’ were thrown, prosecutors allege. He died in hospital after the attack.
Opening the case at Birmingham Crown Court, prosecutor Mr Phil Bradley QC said: “The prosecution’s case is that when he drove that knife into Ryan Passey, Kobe Murray did so deliberately and with the intention of causing Mr Passey really serious harm, and is therefore guilty of murder.”
During a police interview, Mr Murray did not answer questions, the court heard, but presented a statement through his solicitor, claiming he had been attacked at the club.
“If I used a knife it was in self-defence. I do not recollect the exact circumstances due to being attacked and being intoxicated,” the statement said.
But Mr Bradley told jurors: “There is no suggestion that Ryan Passey or anyone in his group was armed with a knife or other weapon.
“It is against this backdrop that Kobe Murray’s use of a knife should be measured.
“You may think that taking a knife to an unarmed man falls well short of reasonable or proportionate.”
The trial continues. Follow the link to read a report of the trial so far on the Express and Star’s website: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/dudley/stourbridge/2018/01/25/ryan-passey-murder-trial-amateur-footballer-was-killed-after-trivial-altercation/
