Prosecutor addresses jury in Banbury park attempted murder trial

The trio, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, are accused of the attempted murder of Danils Bogdancevs and causing him grievous bodily harm with intent in the People’s Park on June 11 last year.

Mr Bogdancevs was left with half a dozen stab wounds in the assault, which allegedly saw him kicked, punched and stabbed by a group of youths on the sunny afternoon.

Closing his case to the jury on Monday (April 3), prosecutor Mark Trafford KC acknowledged that the jury might have sympathy for the three boys – particularly Boy Y, whose video-recorded police interview was played to the court and showed him holding his mother’s hands as he was quizzed by detectives.

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But he urged the jury to judge Y, along with the two co-defendants, on ‘what he did and what he assisted [with] on that day’.

There was ‘no hierarchy’ in terms of the roles the Crown claimed the boys had played in the alleged attack, Mr Trafford said. “They were all directly involved. Some did more serious things than others,” he said.

The prosecutor added: “They’ve lied time and time again about what happened on that day. To themselves, to each other, to the police, to their parents I suspect and in evidence to you.”

Reminding the jury that they would have to be sure of the defendants’ guilt or innocence before convicting or acquitting them, Mr Trafford said: “You can be quite sure when you consider the independent evidence and what happened in this case that all of these defendants are guilty of that with which they are charged.”

The trio deny attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The defendants’ barristers are expected to give their closing speeches today.