A teenager cleared last week of murdering Alex Innes has admitted his part in a stabbing a fortnight before the Jericho killing.
Keyarno Johnson-Allen, 19, was one of three men acquitted last Friday of the murder of Mr Innes outside the Love Jericho cocktail bar, Walton Street, in the early hours of November 13 last year.
Only Greg ‘Gino’ Muinami, who prosecutors said dealt the chest wound that pierced the 25-year-old’s heart, was convicted of murder. He will be sentenced later in July.
Johnson-Allen, previously of Prestwick Road, Watford, returned to Oxford Crown Court on Friday (June 30) facing allegations of wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article.
It followed a stabbing in St Aldates, Oxford, on October 30, exactly two weeks before the murder of Mr Innes.
READ MORE: Three cleared of murdering Alex Innes in Jericho
Representing Johnson-Allen, barrister Alistair Grainger asked for his client to have the charges put to him again.
Standing in the dock wearing a tracksuit and flanked by a custody officer, he pleaded guilty to both counts.
Judge Ian Pringle KC adjourned sentencing until the end of co-defendant’s trial and remanded Johnson-Allen in custody. The maximum sentence for wounding with intent, sometimes called causing grievous bodily harm with intent, is life imprisonment.
The fact that Johnson-Allen was facing prosecution in relation to the earlier stabbing was not put before the jury in the Jericho murder trial.
What they were told about, however, was material found on a mobile phone linked to the defendant that appeared to show an acquaintance with knives.
Recovered from the phone were two very short video clips, the first just nine seconds long. The 'creation date' was just after 9pm, on November 12, just hours before the stabbing.
The first video appeared to show a man sharpening a knife on a whetstone then stabbing the air in the direction of the cameraman. Another man played on a computer in the background.
In the second video, seemingly shot shortly after the first, the jurors were presented with a 'selfie-style' view of Johnson-Allen. The words 'yo, yo, yo' could be heard.
READ MORE: Johnson-Allen's brief addresses Jericho murder jury
When the videos were shown to the jury last month, it was made clear that the ‘creation date’ did not necessarily mean it was recorded on November 12, but might simply have been viewed or downloaded at that time.
Johnson-Allen did not give evidence during his trial. However, in prepared statements given to the police when he was interviewed by detectives last November he denied any involvement in Mr Innes’ death. He claimed to have gone to the victim’s aid when he ran down Walton Street and collapsed at the back of Somerville College.
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