The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A teenager has told the Warren Free murder trial jury that he witnessed an attack which left the Spalding man with fatal injuries.
The boy, who cannot be identified, told the jury at Lincoln Crown Court that Mr Free was put to the ground by Jake Edwards, who then punched and kicked him.
He told the jury that he thought a 16-year-old boy was involved in kicking Mr Free.
The boy, giving evidence by video link, said “I think he (the 16-year-old) was kicking him. I remember being next to him and then him running. I think it was almost a stamping motion.”
He added that he witnessed a 15-year-old girl kick Mr Free and then hit him on the head with a metal pole before kicking him in the head.
But he said he did not remember a second girl, then aged 14, either kick or punch Mr Free. The boy said that if he had seen her stamp on Mr Free or punch him then he would have remembered.
He told the jury: “I cannot remember her doing anything. I cannot remember anything about her.”
He was questioned by the 14-year-old girl’s barrister Michael Evans QC, who asked him if he had seen his client being hit with an iron bar but he responded: “I don’t recall that at all”.
The witness was himself arrested for murder but was subsequently released without being charged.
The prosecution allege that Mr Free (42) was kicked, punched and stamped on by the group of teenagers before a girl struck him over the head several times with a metal pole.
He went home to bed but friends were later unable to rouse him. An ambulance was called and he was airlifted to hospital but passed away within 24 hours from a head injury.
Six teenagers all deny the murder of Warren Free on August 29, 2014. Three of the defendants, including a girl, were 14 at the time while the others were a girl of 15 and a 16-year-old together with Jake Edwards, of Mill Green Road in Pinchbeck (now 18).
Two of the boys, who were 14 and 16 at the time, each deny a charge of perverting the course of justice relating to the disposal of the metal pole in a nearby waterway.
The trial continues on Monday.
More coverage:
Group thought row with victim was ‘joke’ before things turned nasty
Group ‘relieved when victim got to his feet as they left after attack
Accused girl (15) ‘admitted hitting victim over head with metal pole’
Victim died after ‘fast and brutal’ attack by group of juveniles
