Stab wound caused ‘torrential’ blood loss, murder trial hears

Police at the scene of the alleged murder of Tavis Spencer-Aitkens in Packard Avenue, Ipswich Picture: ARCHANT (Image: Archant)

A post-mortem examination carried out on the 17-year-old the day after his death in June found he had been stabbed a total of 15 times, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

The fatal wound to Tavis’s heart, which was 10cm to 14cm deep, entered the left side of his upper chest and penetrated his heart causing “torrential” blood loss, said Oliver Glasgow QC, prosecuting.

There were also 14 other wounds including a stab wound to the neck, a deep wound to the right side of the chest, a wound to the back which penetrated the left kidney, and wounds to his left arm and right knee.

MORE: How the second day of the trial unfolded

Before the court are Aristote Yenge, 23, of Spring Road, Ipswich, Adebayo Amusa, 20, of Sovereign Road, Barking, Callum Plaats, 23, of Ipswich, Isaac Calver, 19, of Firmin Close, Ipswich, a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named, and Leon Glasgow, 42, of no fixed address.

They all deny murdering Tavis, of Pownall Road, Ipswich on June 2.

It has been alleged that Tavis was “butchered” to death in a revenge attack by members of a rival group.

The court has heard that Tavis was friends with a group of men from the Nacton area of Ipswich called ‘Neno’, which had a “heated rivalry” with the ‘J-Block’ from the Jubilee Park area of the town.

Mr Glasgow alleged that Tavis was attacked as a result of what the ‘J-Block’ group perceived to be a loss of respect following a row between members of both groups in Ipswich town centre.

Following the row, members of ‘J-Block’ allegedly went to the Nacton area of Ipswich looking for a member or members of ‘Neno’ to take their revenge on, said Mr Glasgow.

Tavis was attacked near his family home in Packard Avenue at about 4.45pm.

When relatives found him in the street, he allegedly said ‘J-Block’ was responsible for his injuries.

Doctors performed emergency surgery at the scene to stem blood loss from his wounds but Tavis died in hospital.

The court has heard that both the ‘Neno’ and ‘J-Block’ groups recorded music and posted videos on YouTube and rapped about their rivalry and dislike for each other.

Mr Glasgow said that following the stabbing, residents of flats in Yeoman Close, Ipswich, noticed four men standing by the River Gipping and saw one of them throw a shiny object, which looked like a knife or a machete, into the water.

A police underwater search team later recovered a black handled knife with a 20cm blade, which was believed to have been used to cause Tavis’s injuries from the river.

Mr Glasgow said that after his arrest, Leon Glasgow said he had driven Amusa and several other men to the Nacton area of Ipswich in a van on June 2 and had seen them run towards a man in the street.

He thought the man was “getting a kicking” and when his passengers returned he asked them what had happened and they allegedly replied: “gang ****” and an “AM”, which he took to mean attempted murder.

He told police that one of the men had blood on his top.

After their arrest Yenge, the 16-year-old boy, Calver and Plaats answered no comment to all questions and in a prepared statement Amusa denied being in the van on June 2.

Mr Glasgow alleged that forensic evidence linked Yenge, the 16-year-old boy, Calver and Amusa to the van and that Amusa’s DNA was found on a piece of broken bottle which had Tavis’s blood on it.

The trial continues.