JAMIE THOMPSON EVIDENCE (JTH)

Q Do you live in the Sunderland area
A. Yes
Q. Which district
A. Grindon
Q. Do you live with your girlfriend
A. No, my mother
Q. In May this year were you living with AT
A. Yes
Q. Was that in the Grindon area
A. Yes
Q. Does AT have a sister name CT
A. Yes
Q. On the 18th May this year were you in the company of AT and CT
A. Yes
Q. Were you in the home you shared having been out earlier
A. Yes
Q. Have you now moved
A. No I live in the same place
Q. Can you tell us the road]
A. Gleneagles Road
Q. That night was CT going to stay with you and AT
A. Yes
Q. During the night did you have any cans of ale to drink
A. Yes
Q. How many
A. 2 or 3
Q. Did you watch anything on TV
A. She did
Q. It was on
A. Aye
Q. At midnight did you go out for a while
A. Yes
Q. With AT and CT
A. They left 5 minutes before me
Q. Where were you going
A. The BP garage
Q. Do you have a friend named Ian
A. Yes
Q. Did you see him on your trip to the garage
A. Yes
Q. Were AT and CT with you
A. No they just left
Q. How long were you there
A. 5 minutes
Q. When you left did you go to Greenwood Road
A. Yes
Q. Does Gleneagles Road run on to it
A. Next to it
Q. Did you walk in the direction of the BP garage
A. Yes
Q. Could you see AT or CT
A. No
Q. Did you see some other people
A. Yes
Q. Were they on the same side
A. Other side
Q. How many
A. 3
Q. How far away were you when you first saw them
A. About 30 meters
Q. Were you going in the same direction
A. No towards me
Q. Male or female
A. Male
Q. On 22nd May did you go to the police station at Byker
A. Yes
Q. For an ID procedure
A. Yes
Q. Did you pick out the face of one of the the three men you say on the other
side of the road
A. Yes
Q. Did you stay on the same side of the road
A. Yes
Q. On the 18th May
A. Yes I did
Q. Did the 3 males stay on their side
A. One of them crossed over first
Q. What were the other two doing
A. Talking to each other then they followed the first one and crossed over.
Q. Did the first one come near you
A. Yes
Q. How close
A. In my face
Q. Did you stop
A. I tried to carry on walking
Q. Did he say anything
A. He asked for a cigarette
Q. Did you give him one
A. I did not have any
Q. Did you tell him
A. Yes
Q. Can you give a description
A. 5'6”-5'8”, dark hair, dressed in black, cap on his head, dark, white male,
late teens, I did not pay any attention to any distinctive marks on his clothing.
Clothing was dark, black, wearing a tracksuit, coat, trainers, not sure of the colour
Q. Did you make a statement to the police
A. Yes
Q. On the 19th May
A. Yes
Q. Might looking at the statement refresh your memory. We'll come back to that. As you
were with that male did the other two do anything.
A. They crossed over and got in my face.
Q. Where was the first male
A. Just behind them two
Q. We will refer to him as male 1, can you describe male 2
A. White, 5'10”-5'11”
Q. Male 3, is he shorter or taller
A. Taller
Q. Is male 2 taller than male 1
A. Yes
Q. How old
A. Late teens, wearing a cap, his fringe was fair, cap was dark, black clothing,
tracksuit, top and bottoms
Q. How did this compare with male 1
A. He had a jacket on
Q. Male 2 had a tracksuit top and bottoms
A. Yes
Q. Shoes
A. Trainers, colour unknown, clean shaven, young looking, baby face
Q. Third male
A. Late teens to twenties, he looked older, 5'10”-6', dark hair, cap on I think,
dark clothing, black tracksuit bottoms with white writing on, like Berghaus type
jacket. It had a white Berghaus sign on the top left, to the left I think, trousers
were dark, trainers
Q. Your statement for dealing with male 1 says that he was wearing trainers white
in colour, does that refresh your memory
A. Yes
Q. So the three are now with you
A. Yes
Q. Did any of them do anything
A. They came up to me and one of them said are you Jamie
Q. Was any one of these anyone you had seen before
A. No I didn't know them from Adams
Q. Did you confirm that you were Jamie
A. Yes
Q. Which one said this
A. Male 2
Q. Baby face
A. Yes
Q. When he said that where was male 1 and 3
A. Male 1 was behind 2 and 3, a couple of meters behind, male 2 was close as
was male 3
Q. What happened next
A. They wanted a fight they were saying do you want a fight, 2 and 3 were
saying this
Q. Had anyone of them done anything before wanting a fight
A. No, they were jumping about slinging their arms about, this was male 3
Q. Was he doing this with both of his arms
A. Yes
Q. What did you think was going to happen
A. I thought they would hit me, I tried to walk back
Q. What happened next
A. They came further up to me and that's when I was stabbed
Q. How many came further up to you
A. All three but male 1 was still at the back.
Q. Which male stabbed you
A. Male 2
Q. The one who asked if you were Jamie
A. Yes
Q. How did he stab you
A. He done it quick, he puled it out his coat whilst the other was trying to
distract me, slinging his arms about
Q. What did he pull out
A. A screwdriver
Q. Where did he hit you
A. In the chest
Q. How long was it
A. 6-8 inches
Q. Was this the whole thing
A. Yes
Q. You told us he did it quick, had you seen it in his hand before he
stabbed you
A. No
Q. Which hand did he use
A, His right
Q. You just moved your left hand across your chest is that the move he made
before you saw the screwdriver
A. Yes
Q. Was in incidentally that he stabbed you
A. Yes
Q. Did you see the face of the man who used it
A. Yes
Q. Is that the man you ID'd on the 22nd
A. Yes
Q. What was your reaction
A. I turned and ran, I turned back and they were standing laughing saying
I'll punch your head in.
Q. Who was laughing
A. All 3
Q. Which one said I'll punch your head in
A. All of them were shouting stuff
Q. Did they follow you
A. No
Q. Did you then go in Galway Square, go into someone's' garden and knock on
the door and tell them you had been stabbed.
A. Yes
Q. Did you receive treatment at SRH
A. Yes
Q. Given stitches to the wound
A. Yes
Q. Greenwood Road is quite a wide road
A. Yes
Q. It is lit
A. Yes
Q. The incident itself, how long did it last
A. A short time, 2-3 minutes
Q. You've not seen any of these before
A. No
Q. Mr Bloomfield will admit the person ID'd was Tony Hawkes
Cross examine – Mr Bloomfield for Tony Hawkes
Q. (Given copy of the plan) In the bottom left hand corner Grindon
appears to be written on the grassed area. If you look down,where you
were is there
A. Yes
Q. Your going up Greenwood Road
A. Yes
Q. Just below Chester Road you see the Grindon Mill public house, that's
where you were going
A. Yes
Q. Is BP petrol station on your side
A. It's next to the pub
Q. The route you would take is up Greenwood Road, we can just see some steps.
Which side were you on
A. Walking past the houses
Q. After you were stabbed you run into Galway Square
A. Yes
Q. Had you reached Galway Square when asked for a cigarette
A. I just got of Gilingham Road
Q. Making your way to Galashields Road
A. Yes
Q. You said there were street lights, there are three in total.
The flats and house there are a lot of trees with leaves on,
so that part would be dark
A. Yes
Q. So what ever you saw would be under cover
A. There are street lights on the other side
Q. How close to the lights were you
A. Right next to one
Q. They were heading towards you at that point
A. Males 2 and 3 were a bit further down
Q. Males 2 and 3 were not close enough to see what was going
on were they
A. They were over the road
Q. The man who spoke to you did not shout though
A. No he said it aggressively, they were talking
Q. But not loud
A. I don't remember
Q. The other two are on the other side of the road
A. Yes
Q. They then come over
A. Yes
Q. You said male 2 was taller than male 3 and 1
A. No male 3 was the tallest
Q. Male 2 stabbed you
A. Yes but male 3 was the tallest
Q. He came over and they started to pick a fight, male 3 was jumping
about slinging his arms about
A. Yes
Q. Male 3 was picking the fight
A. Yes, he was trying to distract me
Q. So he was picking a fight, trying to egg him on saying do it
A. I suppose so
Q. What was male 3 saying
A. He wasn't saying much, male 2 when he said my name, Male 3 was
shouting saying 'I'll punch your head in' and trying to have a fight
Q. Male 2 was not saying anything
A. Yes
Q. Can you remember male 3 encouraging male 2
A. No
Q. You said they used a screwdriver
A. Yes
Q. And you did not see it before you were stabbed
A. It was too quick
Q. Where did he pull it from
A. An inside pocket
Q. He reached inside with his right hand puling out a screwdriver,
I suggest it was a knife
A. It was a screwdriver
Q. He used his right hand, your clear about that.
A. Yes
Q. The wound was not very deep was it
A. It was a few inches, about 4 or 5
Q. You went to hospital and made your statement. You said this
male 3 began jabbing towards me
A. He did he stabbed me
Q. No male 2 stabbed you, in your statement you said, for no reason
male 3 began jabbing towards me with his left hand saying something
about a fight. You told him male 3 was jabbing what did you mean
A. His fist was clenched
Q. Using his left hand
A. Yeah probably both
Q. But the man who stabbed you used his right hand
A. Yes
Q. Then they taunted you, but no one attempted to come after you
A. No
Q. Did you not know the three
A. Yes
Q. Have you seen the one stabbed you before
A. No
Q. Do you know anyone named Nikki Carter
A. Yes
Q. From Pennywell
A. Yes
Q. He's been to your house
A. No
Q. He brought with him Tony Hawkes
A. I don't remember him
Q. Your not friends with Nikki any more are you
A. No
Cross examine – Mr Nolan for Jordan Towers
Q. The one you ID'd as male 1 was the one who first spoke to you
A. Yes
Q. On your description he was the shortest of the three
A. Yes
Q. After he spoke to you 2 and 3 came right up to you so that
they stood between male 1 and yourself
A. Yes
Q. That remains the position throughout this encounter
A. Yes
Q. Number 1 was always in the background
A. Yes
Q. Number 1 did nothing to you, he didn't attack you, strike you
or injure you in any way
A. Correct
Q. He did not day anything to 2 and 3
A. No, he might have I don't know, no
Q. You didn't see anything
A. No
Q. Male 2 stabbed you, where was male 1
A. Behind
Q. How far
A. A meter or two
Q. Out of arm's reach
A. Yes
Q. When you went of where was male 1
A. Standing with the other two
Q. No one followed
A. After I ran, I stopped
Q. Your description earlier was that they did not chase you
A. Yes
Q. AT and CT left before you, what was the purpose of
your joint trip
A. Cigarettes
Q. Why did it take three
A. Her sister wanted a top up card
Q. Could that not be got by one
A. She's too young
Q. But the older could have got both
A. Yes
Q. You went to speak to your friend
A. I told them I would catch up with them
Q. But these are young girls at night, was there any reason
why you wanted them out the way while you spoke with Ian
A. No
Q. How long did you speak to Ian
A. 5 minutes
Q. I suggest the initial conversation was about something other
than cigarettes You spoke to male 1 did you not
say ' Do you want to buy a bag of smack'
Judge gives a warning that if he feels that answering the question would
implicate him in a criminal offence he is not obliged to answer it.
Q. We both know what I mean by smack, Heroin
A. Yes
Q. You said do you want to buy a bag of smack
A. I didn't say it, I don't want to answer it, I didn't say it
Q. The conversation then continued that if your selling smack you
deserve a smack, on hostile terms
A. No
Q. That is what drew the attention of the other two
A. No
Q. You disagree
A. Yes
Cross examine – Mr Hill for Dean Curtis
Q. They were al dressed in a similar way wearing dark clothing
A. Yes
Q. You did not recognise him at the time
A. No
Q. You were not aware at the time that Tony Hawkes had been to your house
A. No
Q. Al wearing dark clothing, dark trainers, dark hats
A. Yes
Q. Certainly not wearing a white hat
A. No
Q. 3 lads, al in the same age bracket, al similar heights,
all dressed similar
A. Yes
Q. This al came out of the blue
A. Yes
Q. Five months ago now, you have probably thought about it everyday have you
A. Yes
Q. Quite naturally you must still be very angry about what happened
A. Yes
Q. And al three have been accused of being involved in as
stabbing where a man sadly died
A. Yes
Q. It would be easy to assume that al three lads were in it together
A. Yes
Q. When you made your statement, it was the same day wasn't it,
they took a statement while in hospital
A. Yes
Q. This happened at about half past midnight, did the police
come and see you that morning
A. The afternoon
Q. You had injure repaired, stitches, was this under general or
local aesthetic
A. I was not put to sleep
Q. Were you still shaken up when you gave the statement
A. Yes
Q. When the officer took the statement from you was it a male or female officer
A. Male
Q. Did he sit down beside your bed and write out the statement
A. Yes
Q. It was a hand written statement
A. Yes
Q. Sometimes police officers do do that. Can you remember whether
they took the statement or notes
A. Can't remember
Q. How long was he there for
A. About an hour or something, half an hour to an hour
Q. When you finished telling him this did he give you the statement
to read through.
A. Can't remember
Q. Did you just agree that it was right
A. Yes I just agreed
Q. You read over it this morning
A. Aye
Q. Did it read familiar to you
A. That's the way it happened
Q. We knew you did not have a great deal to drink, just 2-3 cans.
Do you agree it all happened quickly
A. Yes
Q. You couldn't understand why it was happening
A. Yes
Q. You tried to pick out the other two that were there
A. I didn't recognise them
Q. Because the man who stabbed you was no doubt etched on your memory
A. Yes
Q. As you walked down heading towards the garage you were looking
for AT and CT
A. Yes
Q. No one else in the street
A. Yes that's right
Q. From what you said the men were really quite close when you noticed them
A. Yes
Q. Its quite a long road isn't it
A. Yes
Q. The fact you didn't notice them before was because you were not paying attention
A. I wasn't really paying attention
Q. Is it quite a dark road, are there houses down the side, street lights.
A. Yes
Q. The way you described it the first male crossed the road, is it
something you saw or have you assumed he crossed the road
A. He crossed over
Q. Did you actually see him cross
A. I seen him walking over and he asked me that I sad I had none and carried on walking
Q. When you first saw him was he nearly on your side
A. Yes
Q. It is natural to assume that he has come from over the road
A. Yes
Q. The other two males were quite further back
A. Yes on the other side of the road. He came over then the other two came over
Q. Same question did you see them cross the road
A. The first one was behind me and I saw the other two cross over
Q. I suggest the first male who asked for a cigarette was maybe 10-15 yards away,
the other two were actually on the dame side of the road and did not cross over
A. All 3 were on the left hand side I was on the right
Q. You've assumed that
A. I seen them
Q. After you spoke to the first lad you've told the jury what you say happened.
You said the other two both approached
A. Yes
Q. Your memory is the other two ended up in front of you
A. Yes
Q. The first lad ended up behind them, you say male 1 asked for a cigarette and ended
up behind the other two
A. No behind me
Q. We know who stabbed you, the other lad, your male 3, the description
is the same as the other two
A. Yes
Q. You agreed it was a fairly confusing incident
A. Yes
Q. All of a sudden number 2 puled the knife out
A. Yes
Q. I suggest you become confused with who is next to number 2, male 1 is in fact male 3
A. No
Q. Even though they al looked the same, it al happened very quickly, late at night
A. Yes
Q. Completely unexpected
A. Yes
Q. The only one you picked out was the one stabbed you
A. Yes
Q. The third man did not actually get up to you or become involved at al
A. He was standing next to male 2 when he stabbed me
Q. You know this location really well
A. Yes
Q. Just near this there is a low wall just next to the footpath,
male 3 actually went and sat on the was while this confrontation
was taking place, do you remember any of them sitting on the wall
A. No
Q. The barrister representing male 2 has tried to persuade you male
3 was trying to encourage him
A. He didn't have to encourage he would have stabbed me anyway
Q. You've also said that you ran away
A. Yes
Q. You say don't think you were chased Do you not remember male
2 running after you and kicking out at you
A. No
Q. Do you think that my be right
A. No
Q. Whoever this lad was who was waving his arms around, when you
gave your statement you were saying something about a fight, you
can't remember exact words is that right
A. Just what I said earlier
Q. Is it thinking about it after that you thought this lad wanted
him to stab you, do you agree you don't remember what he was saying
A. No I don't
Q. Only person who did anything was male 2
A. Yes
Q. One final point I have suggested that perhaps you were struggling
a bit, male 2 called you Jamie, that as something you did not remember
when making your statement
A. I told him straight away
Q. The policeman must have missed it out of his statement
A. I think so
Q. Do you think you were still in a state of shock, a few days later you remembered
A. No I told him it
Q. You did tell him then
A. Yes I did
Q. You told him this lad called you Jamie he did not write it down, is
that your evidence
A. I said it and he wrote it down
Q. You seem a little unsure about that
A. No
Q. Do you not think you were confused and went back later
A. No
Q. The ID process you picked out male 2 but could not pick out the other 2,
was three days after the event
A. Yes
Q. Everything was still fresh
A. Yes
Re-examine – Mr Woodcock for the Crown
Q. Mr Hill questioned you about the statement you gave to the police, he has
not reminded you what you did say. The statement records it as it happens,
so we shall start at the beginning. Runs through statement.
Mr Hill interrupts, The statement is just being read and does not provide
anything helpful, is it better that statement be put to Mr Thompson.
Judge agrees
Q. Carries on reading statement. Is it correct
A. Yes
Mr Nolan interrupts I'm not happy that the statement is just being put,
it contradicts with evidence in chief. Judge feels the jury will have to
decide which is correct Judge states he can extract the detail but must
ask which is correct I will just avoid the descriptions
Q. Moving on, misses descriptions then caries on reading the statement.
Were you joined by two other males
A. Yes
Q. Was the 1st male still with you
A. Yes
Q. For no reason whatsoever male 3 started jabbing towards
me with his left hand is that correct
A. Yes
Q. I thought something was going to happen
A. Yes
Q. Caries on reading the statement
Jamie Thompson released