The barrister representing the boy accused of plunging a knife into the back of a prone victim asked jurors: “Where is baseball cap man?”
It was the name Peter Doyle KC gave to cap-topped tall six-footer said by an independent eye-witness to have reached over flailing arms and stabbed Danils Bogdanceves in People’s Park, Banbury, on June 11 last year.
His client, who we have named ‘Boy Z’, is one of three youths accused of attempting to murder Mr Bogdancevs and causing him grievous bodily harm with intent.
All deny the charges.
Closing Z’s case to jurors at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday (April 4), Mr Doyle said: “It’s [the witness’s] description of the stabber, something that she remembers, something you may think she’ll never forget, the man who for the reasons she explained had to be at least if not as tall as the victim certainly six foot if not more.
“And why do I say that? Because he wasn’t by the side of anybody – my words, not hers – because he was at the back and he had to reach over the people at the front in order to get his arm down to where Danils was.”
READ MORE: Prosecutor accuses attempted murder accuseds of telling lies
Crucially, Mr Doyle said, the woman’s evidence was that the stabber had been wearing a baseball cap.
By contrast, ‘Z’ was seen on CCTV wearing what his barrister described as a ‘funny sort of bandana’.
“At least six people [said to have been involved in the attack,” the lawyer told the jury.
“We’ve got three.
“Where’s baseball cap man?”
The trial continues.
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