Teenager who stabbed young man 'was victim of modern slavery', court told

Harry Burkett, 21, from Grays, collapsed in the street in Clacton after suffering a single stab wound on the night of Saturday, September 11, last year.

A 16-year-old boy, from Clacton, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder.

The teenager took to the witness box during a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Read more: Teenage boy captured on CCTV 'armed and ready to strike', trial hears

The court was told he has no previous convictions recorded against him.

But the defendant confirmed he has been arrested three times, on the first occasion in August 2020 on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs.

He told the jury this arrest arose out of a meeting with some strangers a few weeks earlier.

He said he was approached by a group of four while he was “chilling and smoking” in a wooded area with friends.

He said the group asked him to perform a job for them in exchange for cannabis.

“They asked me to go meet someone, drop something off, and then bring money back,” he said.

The teenager said he carried out the job for them, before the group accompanied him and his friends back to his home.

He said he was “chilling” with the group near his home, when they showed him knives they were carrying.

He said: “I asked them why they had it, and they said: ‘Just in case anyone wants to f*** with us’.”

The teenager said he agreed to carry out another job for the group, as “he knew they were serious” after showing him the knife.

He said he agreed to hold unknown packages and knives for the group out of fear for his safety.

“I was scared they’d come to my house and hurt me, or my mum or my girlfriend,” he said.

After the teenager’s arrest in August 2020, he said the group “went mad” and told him they wanted to meet him.

He said they “came knocking” at his house, angry at the loss of their drugs and money.

“They gave me a phone with a number and said they were going to call me later,” he said.

The teenager said two members of the group assaulted him.

The court heard in February last year, he was arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis and a Stanley knife.

The defendant told the jury the cannabis, worth around £80, belonged to the group who were pressuring him.

He said he had forgotten he was carrying the knife, which he used to carry out DIY jobs for his grandfather.

He said he was again beaten up by the same group after his second arrest.

The teenager confirmed he was asked by the police to “name names”, but was scared the group were watching him.

He said he felt unsafe in Clacton, as the group knew where he lived.

“If I did anything wrong, I knew they’d come to my house and harm me or my mum,” he said.

The teenager said on around three or four occasions, he was sent to London to pick up items for the group.

He said by April last year, they wanted him to carry out drug deals.

The teenager was arrested for a third time in May on suspicion of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.

He confirmed drugs, which belonged to the group, were found in his underwear.

Stephen Moses QC, defending, told the jury the three arrests remain ongoing investigations.

He said there had been a “conclusive grounds decision” the teenager had been the victim of modern slavery for the purposes of “forced criminality”.

The defendant said he didn’t want to give evidence against the drug dealers, as he feared “they would know he was a snitch and would probably kill him”.

The court heard the defendant told his social worker things were “quiet” in July, confirming he hadn’t had any recent contact with the drug dealers.

“I hadn’t had any contact with them, but they were calling me,” he said.

“I wasn’t answering the calls.”

Moving on to September 11 last year, the teenager said he left his home at around 5pm or 6pm that afternoon and went to the beach with some friends.

He confirmed to the jury he carried a knife, of about 12 and a half inches in length, with him.

“It had holes in the blade,” he said.

The teenager said the knife was initially kept in a black “man bag”.

He said he carried the knife as he feared the drug dealers may still be watching him.

He told the jury he remained at the beach for about an hour, before the group headed to a leisure centre.

He said they were “playing music and smoking”, before he left at around 11.30pm.

The teenager told the jury he had not seen or met Mr Burkett at any stage before he was confronted in Orwell Road a short time later.

The scene of the police investigation following the stabbing

He said his first memory of Mr Burkett that evening was “when he’s coming up to me and threatening me with a bottle”.

“I was standing alone, I heard shouting from behind me,” he said.

He said Mr Burkett was “angry” as he approached him, bottle in hand, before pushing him.

The teenager said Mr Burkett grabbed his jumper with one hand and struck him with the bottle three times.

“He started hitting me in the head with it,” he said.

“I didn’t know what to do, I was scared, I was trying to get away.”

Read more: Teenager stabbed young man before shouting 'this is a warning', court told

He said he could not escape as he was cornered and Mr Burkett continued to hold onto him.

The teenager told the jury he took a knife from his waistband and “swung” it at Mr Burkett in a bid to “scare him away”.

“I was scared and was just trying to get him off me, as I didn’t know what else to do,” he said.

The teenager said he received a phone call from a friend at around 12.45am that night, informing him a nearby road had been taped off and there were people in forensic suits on the scene.

He told the jury he only learned Mr Burkett had died the following day after reading a police social media post.

Mr Moses asked the teenager why the clothing he wore that night, his telephone and the knife were never recovered by the police.

The defendant responded: “Because I was scared and didn’t know what to do, so I got rid of it all.”

Mr Moses asked the teenager how he feels about the events of September 11.

The defendant replied: ”Awful, There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it. I took someone’s life and I’ve got to live with that.

“I’m not a violent person, I’ve never had a fight before. I was scared for my life.”

The teenager will face cross-examination this afternoon.

• The trial continues