The 17-year old man accused of murdering James Brindley has claimed he was acting in self defence.
Birmingham Crown Court heard on Wednesday that the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted to stabbing the aspiring male model but maintained that he was defending himself and Aaron Kahrod, also standing trial for the murder.
He claimed that he pulled a knife to ‘scare’ 26-year old James, alleging that he was the one that first started acting aggressively, and a scuffle lead to Brindley falling on the knife in what was described by the defence as a “terrible accident”.
The court went on to hear several witness accounts of the incident that alleged Kahrod and the youth were the ones to target Brindley as he was walking home after a night out with friends in the town of Aldridge, near Walsall.
A conversation between the 17-year old and another person that was covertly recorded by police, the youth admitted that he had been the one to tease Brindley:
“If we say the truth we are just going to get done…We made a joke about his girl, he came over and one of us pulled out a thingy – thinking that he would run away.”
“He went into me and ran off. He was running away. We saw blood on the knife.”
There was also evidence that the youth had attempted to dispose of evidence after the stabbing.
The trial is expected to continue for the next three weeks.
To catch up on our coverage of the case so far, click here.
