Ryan Kirkpatrick was the victim of an execution, a prosecutor has alleged, as closing speeches began in the trial of two men who deny his murder in Carlisle city centre.
Kane Hull, 29, and Liam Craig Porter, 33, have pleaded not guilty to the murder and, alternatively, the manslaughter of 24-year-old Mr Kirkpatrick. He died after being fatally stabbed, three times, by a masked attacker who burst into Carlyle’s Court, off Fisher Street, at 8.46pm on Saturday, September 18.
That incident lasted a minute and came around 15 minutes after Hull and Porter had attended the courtyard where, a jury has heard, Hull tried to glass Mr Kirkpatrick. CCTV captured parts of both incidents.
Neither Hull nor Porter have given evidence in their trial at Carlisle Crown Court. Barristers for the pair say they accept presence at the first incident but deny any presence at the second, during which Mr Kirkpatrick was stabbed.
Hull — detained with Porter by police in Southern Ireland 10 days after the stabbing — is said to further accept that he took steps to avoid arrest in the aftermath, fearing that he would be wrongly accused of inflicting violence on Mr Kirkpatrick.
Toda, prosecutor Tim Evans gave the first closing speech in the case after the completion of evidence.
“Knives kill,” said Mr Evans. “Everyone knows knives kill. Everyone knows knives cause really serious harm.”
Jurors could be sure, alleged Mr Evans, “that Kane Hull armed himself with a knife with the intention to kill or cause really serious bodily harm to Ryan Kirkpatrick.”
Hull did so, the prosecutor alleged, “to teach him a lesson he hadn’t been able to teach him earlier” after the attempted glassing.
During earlier witness evidence there had been some uncertainty about whether incident one constituted a fight, Mr Evans accepted. But he said: “Perhaps we can all agree, can we not, on one thing? That incident two wasn’t a fight; incident two was nearer to an execution than a fight because Ryan Kirkpatrick had not a chance to fight back, did he?”
Of Porter’s claimed involvement in incident two, Mr Evans alleged: “Liam Porter agreed to come along as back up, as support, because for sure, say the Crown, that’s the reason why Liam Porter came back: for that back-up; for that support; for that encouragement; for that assistance to Kane Hull. To be called upon if necessary.”
Earlier the trial judge, Mr Justice Linden, had started day six with directions of law.
Dealing with the jury’s task of evaluating the evidence, Mr Justice Linden said: “It goes without saying that in a case like this, where you may have had an emotional reaction to some of the evidence which you saw and heard, you should not allow those emotions to influence your assessment.
“You may have sympathy for one or more of the people involved in this case but your job is to assess the evidence objectively and dispassionately.”
As the judge and then Mr Evans addressed jurors, Hull and Porter sat in the court dock — Hull wearing a dark suit and white, open-necked shirt; and Porter a dark blue suit, dark blue tie and light blue shirt.
Mr Evans’ address will continue this afternoon, after which there will be closing speeches by defence counsel — Toby Hedworth KC, for Hull, and Liam Walker KC, for Porter.
