Teens went 'hunting as a pack' before fatal stabbing, murder trial told

Prosecution barrister Lisa Wilding QC has begun her summing up in the trial of three teenagers who are accused of the murder of Peter Cairns, 26, on the Silkin Way footpath near Stonebridge Close.

The three teenage defendants, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are also charged with causing assault occasioning actual bodily harm to Kaine Bushell on the same day, June 11, 2021, which they also deny.

Ms Wilding told the jury at Stafford Crown Court on Monday that none of the defendants would have gone out on their own, but they each encouraged and supported the other.

"The evidence makes it clear that they were operating as a pack, hunting as a pack, hunting for someone to fight," she said.

Ms Wilding appealed to the jury to look at the "bigger picture" of how the defendants had behaved.

"Each of these three young men would be nothing without the others.

"Each of them added to the assault with weapons, swagger, bravado, and a desire to look like big, hard men.

"You can be sure they were pumped up, tooled up and willing to use them."

The jury had heard that the weapons had included a wheel brace and a display Samurai sword.

Ms Wilding said none of the defendants had given a completely truthful account, leading to conflicting evidence, because they had been seeking to downplay their own roles.

"Just like in life, rarely does anyone lie to make the position worse for themselves."

The jury was told that only one of the three defendants had been cross-examined but a clear pattern had been shown by their behaviour.

Each was willing to admit a certain amount but they wanted to "divert attention from their own guilt," she added.

Ms Wilding said that "fate had played her hand that it was Peter Cairns who was stabbed and not Kaine Bushell".

While Mr Cairns had died after a knife wound to the chest, Mr Bushell had been hit with a wheel brace and left with a tramline bruise from a blunt Samurai sword.

"There are two separate counts on the indictment and the prosecution say they are two victims of one assault," said Ms Wilding.

"It was just a continuation of the same explosion of violence.

"They were hunting as a pack."

Ms Wilding is due to complete her final speech to the jury on Tuesday before the three defence barristers begin their cases.

The trial continues.