Friends of Matthew Daulby claim they were on ‘rescue mission’ the night he was killed

Four men who traveled to Ormskirk with Matthew Daulby on the night he was stabbed to death claim they were on a “rescue mission” to save another friend who had been punched on an outing. The men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said there was no conspiracy to commit violence when they set out on July 28 last year, Lancs Live reports.

Matthew, 19, suffered fatal knife wounds during a mass rampage in Railway Road shortly after midnight on July 29. But the men said they simply went into town to pick up their friend and were confronted by men with guns. They deny the charges against them.

Closing the criminal investigation file On Monday, July 22, Peter Glensen KC said the jury could be sure that after receiving a “call to action” from a friend, the men planned to go to Ormskirk for a fight. Shortly after midnight, the man sent a laughing video message to the boys’ Snapchat group, saying his attacker was “daring” to hit him while he was on crutches.

But he said he was “so suspicious” that he didn’t kick him, despite being on crutches. He said, “Whoever’s game to come get this boy, in a few weeks.” Each of the four men in the dock denies conspiring to take revenge on the attacker. In a “blizzard” of messages to the group, one commented: “Let’s go.” Matthew said, “I’m coming now. Daulby angry”.

Mr Glensen KC said: “You might think they expected a punch, punches, a straightening board. That was the plan – to go out there and throw some shots. It might have effectively been a playground fight – and I’m not trying to subdue him. It was going to be a fistfight in the streets, involving a significant number of young people, but it became considerably more serious when some people produced weapons.”

During the fight on the Railway Road, one of the men, who was a close friend of Matthew’s, was also stabbed. His lawyer said he was wounded with “possibly the same knife” that killed his friend. The apprentice plumber had a tool kit in the boot of his car but did not arm himself before walking with the men to the Alpine bar, his lawyer said.

Another man was a black belt in martial arts and could hold his own in a fight, his lawyer said. However, that was not on his mind as he made his way to Ormskirk. He was aware that his friend’s mother was being treated for cancer and his friend, on crutches, was also vulnerable. One of the men, currently in the dock, is believed to have wielded a knife during the attack and used it to warn his opponents.

Glenser KC said: “One man says it’s important to have numbers to mitigate the situation. It’s hard to think of anything less likely to defuse the situation than going hand in hand. All he had to do was call a taxi or take a bus, or even one of the group in a car picks him up from the Alpine Bar.”

The prosecution added that every seat in both cars was taken when they traveled to Ormskirk and there would not have been room for an extra passenger. There was no evidence of a third vehicle, they said. The process continues.