Two men have gone on trial accused of murdering Carlisle man Ryan Kirkpatrick, who was stabbed to death outside a city centre bar.
Kane Hull, 29, and Liam Craig Porter, 33, are alleged by the prosecution to have acted together with a joint plan that 24-year-old Mr Kirkpatrick was to be knifed at Carlyle’s Court, off Fisher Street, on the night of Saturday, September 18 last year, before leaving the UK.
Earlier that day Mr Kirkpatrick had attended a christening at Wreay, near Carlisle, before heading into the city. Hull and Porter, meanwhile, were together for much of that afternoon at a pub in the city’s Morton area.
Carlisle Crown Court heard today Hull and Porter left that pub in a blue Volvo about 8pm, and that there had previously been bad blood and a history” between Hull and Mr Kirkpatrick.
CCTV covering Carlyle’s Court captured Hull’s arrival before an initial incident in which he picked up a glass, tossed out its contents and walked towards Mr Kirkpatrick. A short fight is said to have taken place between the pair off camera.
Soon after, Hull and Porter left Carlyle’s Court. Fifteen minutes later, the Volvo is said to have returned to the complex with two men getting out. These men were wearing dark clothing and had their faces covered.
One man — alleged by the prosecution to be Hull — was carrying a knife which was clearly visible on CCTV; ran directly up to Mr Kirkpatrick and stabbed him multiple times before the two masked men fled, leaving in the Volvo.
“Tragically, despite the best efforts of his friends, and then the police and then paramedics, Mr Kirkpatrick was pronounced dead at Carlyle’s Court at 9.22pm,” said prosecutor Tim Evans.
He alleged that the fatal stabbing was at the hand of Hull — who was said to gave been identified despite his disguise attempt — and that Porter was there as a party to, supporting the plan to stab Mr Kirkpatrick.
“They were, in other words, in it together,” alleged Mr Evans. “They came to the bar together with the joint plan that Ryan Kirkpatrick was to be stabbed. They came together, say the Crown; they acted together, said the Crown; and after the stabbing they fled together, say the Crown.”
Jurors heard a vehicle matching the Volvo S40 was found completely burned out near Burgh-by-Sands, north west of Carlisle, soon after the incident, and that it was alight minutes before Mr Kirkpatrick had been pronounced dead.
As he opened the case, Mr Evans also alleged: “You will hear that in the days following the murder, these defendants — helped by friends — took significant steps to evade the police and not be arrested.
“These steps involved changing their phones multiple times; checking into new addresses they were not connected to multiple times; acquiring multiple different vehicles and, on September 22 of last year, travelling first to Northern Ireland via ferry from Stranraer.
Mr Evans alleged Hull and Porter, after a couple of days, fled next to the Republic of Ireland which was, he said, where their flight ended. “On September 28, 10 days after the murder, they were arrested by the Irish police in the Republic of Ireland and, after an extradition process, were brought back to the UK to be put up for trial before you.”
Jurors learned they would hear evidence which included CCTV footage and detailed mobile phone data analysis.
Hull, of no fixed address, and Porter, of Fulmar Place, Carlisle, each deny one charge alleging the murder of Mr Kirkpatrick and have also pleaded not guilty to a second alternative allegation of manslaughter. The prosecution is continuing to provide jurors with an opening of the case, and the trial continues.
