Fred Shand murder trial: Four angles of footage from day of fatal stabbing shown in court

Four angles of footage from the day Fred was fatally stabbed was today (Thursday, July 13) shown in court.

The two teenage boys from Northampton, who were aged 14 and 16 at the time but are now 15 and 17, pleaded not guilty to their murder charge before Northampton Crown Court on April 24. They cannot be named for legal reasons.

Miss Jane Bickerstaff KC, the prosecuting barrister, kickstarted the trial on Wednesday (July 12) with the prosecution opening after the jury was sworn in on Monday (July 10).

The court heard the younger defendant, aged 15, faces an additional charge of carrying an article with a blade or a sharp point in a public place – which he has already pleaded guilty to.

The court heard 16-year-old Rohan Shand, known as Fred, died after being stabbed near the Cock Hotel in Harborough Road at about 3.35pm on March 22 while on his way home from Kingsthorpe College.

Miss Bickerstaff KC, of the prosecution, told the court it was the 15-year-old male defendant that carried out the stabbing and he was accompanied by the 17-year-old in the planned “joint enterprise attack” – shown by CCTV footage in court.

The stabbing followed an altercation outside McDonalds in the Drapery, which the court heard took place the day before (March 21).

A male had his “face sliced with a belt buckle” during that “dispute” and the two defendants were a friend of his. The co-defendants believed Fred Shand was at the forefront of the group responsible.

The court heard that after the co-defendants arrived at Kingsthorpe College later than planned on March 22, they rode on scooter towards the town centre via Harborough Road.

The entire incident was over in seven seconds after Fred, his 15-year-old male friend and the two co-defendants came together for the first time at 3.34pm on March 22 on the green in Harborough Road, the court heard.

The co-defendants fled the scene on foot to the home of the 17-year-old, where they were detained by police shortly after – along with what is believed to be the murder weapon, a second knife and clothing worn during the incident.

The first half of Thursday (July 13) saw Detective Constable Simon Chamberlain from Northamptonshire Police called to provide evidence.

Mr Chamberlain was involved in creating the 360 degree “immersive view” of the scene of the incident, and any other relevant streets in the case – which was shown to the jury.

Next, the prosecution called on Gary Dale to provide evidence. Mr Dale is a civilian who works for Northamptonshire Police and the East Midlands Special Operations Unit’s Major Crime Team.

He confirmed his role included coordinating the recovery of CCTV and reviewing it. Mr Dale also produced the storyboard timeline of events in the information provided to the jury, which included still images taken from CCTV footage.

The court heard it took five weeks and around 200 hours for Mr Dale to compile the evidence and produce what was seen in court.

Miss Bickerstaff, prosecuting, began by saying to the jury: “It is your decision as to what you are sure you can see on the CCTV.”

Mr Dale confirmed that the times may have been incorrect on some CCTV footage retrieved, but it has been amended after being compared with resources deemed “accurate” – namely, the telematics and GPS coordinates of the electric scooter used by the co-defendants.

The jury was shown still images taken from CCTV footage of the route the electric VOI scooter took, from when it is alleged to have been collected by the 15-year-old defendant after leaving his home, until it was abandoned.

The jury heard it was only the younger defendant travelling on the scooter before picking up the 17-year-old defendant at St Peter’s Square, before they began their travels together at 2.49pm on March 22.

The journey was mapped to when the co-defendants arrived at Kingsthorpe College at 3.25pm, with stills from CCTV images showing the pair left the school just a minute later than they arrived when there were no pupils there.

CCTV also picked up the two co-defendants on their route to Harborough Road, as well as Fred and the two friends he was accompanied by.

The court was shown four different sets of CCTV footage in full from cameras looking at different angles of Harborough Road, as well as dash cam footage from a van travelling from Kingsthorpe Grove towards Harborough Road.

This included when all parties arrived at the scene and first came together on the green in Harborough Road, to the stabbing which caused Fred to stagger before falling partly into the road before his 15-year-old male friend moved him onto the path and called 999.

The court heard two members of the public who will be called on for evidence in due course, Mr Wood and Mr Shirley, then followed the co-defendants in their motor vehicle to the home of the 17-year-old defendant. They arrived at 3.39pm on March 22.

The CCTV footage from Tew & Smith Architects, which provided a front view of Harborough Road, was shown at half speed to the court.

After the footage drew to a close, Mr Ben Aina KC, the defence barrister for the 17-year-old defendant, presented three questions to Mr Dale.

The first was about the route you would walk home if you were heading to Kings Heath, where Fred lived. Mr Dale agreed with Mr Aina that it would be to head towards Mill Lane as opposed to crossing the Harborough Road to the green as Fred and his 15-year-old male friend did.

The second was that Mr Aina believed the 17-year-old defendant moved towards Fred’s 15-year-old male friend after getting up off the ground, as opposed to towards his co-defendant as he is seen to have stabbed Fred – as described by the witness.

Mr Dale did not agree with Mr Aina and the defence barrister said: “The jury knows where you and I differ.”

The final issue raised was with separate CCTV footage captured with audio along Kingsthorpe Grove when the co-defendants fled the scene.

The court heard Mr Aina believed the 17-year-old defendant could be heard asking the younger defendant “what did you do?” – but Mr Dale said the complete sentence could not be made out, nor who said it.

The trial continues.