The stabbing victim, Sid Palmer, “had tried to stop the attack”, the court was told

A 59-year-old man stabbed to death in the street outside a homeless shelter tried to stop an attack, a jury heard. Sid Palmer was stabbed with such force that the knife went through his heart and left a wound on his spine.

He collapsed to the ground and died within minutes. The man who allegedly stabbed him, Victor-Eduard Raja, 24, rode away on his bicycle.

Four men have been charged by Leicestershire Police over Mr Palmer’s murder. As well as Raja, who is on trial for murder, there are three men – Michael Boleyn, Nathan Pritchard and Leon Newton – who are charged with manslaughter for ordering the attack which Mr Palmer tried to end.

READ MORE: Man admits killing Sid Palmer in murder trial to begin

The trial at Leicester Crown Court began on Wednesday when Pritchard, 29, of Conduit Street, Leicester city centre, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. That plea was accepted and the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the murder charge against him.

The trial continues with the other three men. Raja, of no fixed address, denies murder and the other two deny charges of manslaughter.

Opening the case, Matthew Brook KC told the jury that the four defendants were part of a gang that sold the synthetic cannabis drug ‘mamba’ to residents of The Dawn Center – a hostel for homeless people in Conduit Street, Leicester city centre, not far of Leicester. Station.

Mr Palmer was stabbed at 7.14pm on Saturday September 30 last year. But the attack, which was caught on CCTV, was the result of a string of incidents on Conduit Street which began more than an hour earlier at 6.10pm when Pritchard was caught on camera walking down the street yelling at someone.

Mr. Palmer was restraining Pritchard as he walked down the street. Another man, Glen Watson, thought Pritchard was shouting at him, which led to an argument and Pritchard was hit by another man.

At one point, Pritchard was heard on the phone telling someone, “Send the boys in, we’ll shoot them.” In a subsequent conversation, defendant Newton was heard to say the phrase, “**** with my mamba.”

Mr Brook said the mamba gang was targeting others selling the same drug. He said: “Mamba, as you probably know, is an illegal class B drug. It is synthetic cannabis.

“It’s an unfortunate fact of life that a homeless shelter can house a lot of potential customers for anyone selling mamba. Given what Newton said – “mess with my mamba” – and other evidence you will hear in this case, you may want to consider whether the sale of drugs like mamba and the need for drug dealers to dominate people was behind the violence that was about to take place.”

He said that after calls involving Pritchard, Newton and Boleyn, the decision was made to send Raja to The Dawn Center, where Pritchard was. Newton, 34, of no fixed address, and Boleyn, 31, of Great Central Way, Leicester, were not at the scene of the stabbing.

Mr Brook said: “(Raja) was sent to the Dawn Center by the other three defendants to attack one of Glen Watson’s group – to send a message through violence that this group of defendants was not to be messed with.”

CCTV footage shown to the jury today (Friday) showed Raja cycling down the road with his face covered, meeting Pritchard outside The Dawn Center before Raja, after being shown something on Pritchard’s phone, to approach a man named Bailey Taylor and start punching. it.

Mr Brook said: “As Raja attacks Bailey Taylor, several people step in to try and protect Bailey and stop what is happening. One of these was Sid Palmer.

“Mr. Palmer moves in to stop the attack. He drags Raja.

“Raja’s response was not to stop his attack but to draw a large knife

“He then threw the knife twice at Sid Palmer. Raja’s second shot hit Sid Palmer in the chest. The knife went through Sid Palmer’s chest and pierced his heart.

“The force Raja used to stab Mr Palmer was such that the knife went 17.5cm through Mr Palmer’s chest and ended up with a minor wound to his spine. After being stabbed, Mr Palmer fell to the ground.

“Unfortunately, within minutes he was dead. Raja’s response was to cycle away.”

Afterwards, Mr Brook said, Raja threw his bike into the river, took a taxi to Cornwall Road, Leicester Stadium, and fled the city. He was arrested five days later in a pub in Yorkshire.

Mr Brooks said Raja killed Mr Palmer, while Boleyn and Newton were both guilty of manslaughter because they “sent Raja and encouraged him to assault someone”.

The process continues.