An 18-year-old was allegedly beaten to death by eight men as part of a "war" between older drug dealers, a jury heard today.
Michael Toohey, who had allegedly been pressured into selling drugs for a man referred to as "Gerry", died on Saturday, April 16 this year, after a group of men chased him into the Mobiles Junction shop on Monument Place, off London Road in the city centre. Eight men and a 14-year-old boy are on trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with Mr Toohey's murder after he was found unresponsive with head and neck injuries.
Today the jury heard from a friend of Mr Toohey's, a young woman who cannot be named for legal reasons. Gordon Cole, KC, prosecuting, played a video recording of her police interviews in which she described chatting to Mr Toohey and two other friends outside the TJ Hughes shop on London Road, before the violence erupted.
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The witness, who the ECHO will refer to as 'Woman A', said she saw a white Volkswagen car suddenly start chasing Mr Toohey, who ran into the Mobile Junctions shop. She told detectives she then saw one of the defendants, 28-year-old Keiron Williams, exit the car and follow him inside.
Detective Constable Debbie Trill asked Woman A how she knew Williams, and why he would be chasing Mr Toohey. Woman A said: "Yeah, I mean I've got a pretty good idea. Michael's had these problems with Kieron for about two years now and then Kieron obviously doesn't like the person he used to work for, Gerry, and Gerry obviously has his problems, has terrorised Kieron in the past.
"I know that [Gerry's] gone and smashed his mum's house up you know, just general anti-social behaviour, and then obviously because Michael had started working for him, he was getting seen around the estate with him. Kieron thought that Michael was still associated with Gerry and yeah, it's been a lifelong thing for them two arguing, was supposed to be since they were kids."
Woman A described Williams and Gerry as "enemies" and said they had been "at war" since they were of similar age to Mr Toohey.
However the jury were told Mr Toohey had stopped selling drugs after the police were sent to take him home when he was reported missing, and because he learned he was going to become a father.
She said: "This man [Gerry] was basically grooming him you know, taking all the money. Michael obviously thought it was good cos he had loads of money. All the lads off the estate sort of looked up to him, like they all used to call him Dad, but he weren't like a dad, he didn't look after them."
Woman A said one day Gerry gave Mr Toohey an electric bike, which he took home with him. However, it was then stolen from Mr Toohey's girlfriend's home.
She said: "After the bike had been took, [Gerry] told Michael he owed him £1,500 for this bike and had him out selling white and brown, the whole time, and he was missing every single day."
Asked about the attack on Mr Toohey, Woman A said she followed him and Williams into the shop. She said: "Michael was behind the counter. There was two men that owned the shop stood in front of Michael trying to stop Keiron. Keiron was trying to swing over the counter.
"I've obviously came in, started like pushing Keiron away and said 'look, he's nothing to do with Gerry. Leave him alone, he's a kid and you're a man'. Then he turned round and called me a slag and said he was gonna stab me."
Woman A said Williams was shouting at Mr Toohey that he was "going to kill him", with Mr Toohey begging "leave it, please just leave it".
She told the jury her partner and Mr Toohey both told her to get out of the shop, where she saw three young boys speaking on mobile phones, saying "get to the shop" and "bring the things".
She said she took a picture of the Volkswagen's registration plate, only for one of the teenagers to threaten to "smash your phone up".
Woman A said a large group of men, including two on pedal bikes, arrived at the scene. She described seeing one of the riders unclip his bike seat and carry it into the shop, which quickly filled up.
She said it was difficult to follow the chaotic scenes inside the from outside, telling detectives: "Literally all you could see, it was just like a mosh pit. I know it sounds mad, but it was just like people everywhere, moving.
"No-one was staying still in the room."
The court also heard Mr Toohey had been carrying a knife at the time he was killed, which Woman A said he used for "protection" after Williams had chased him on "two other occasions". She also accepted hiding it in her handbag when it fell from his waistband, as she and her partner attempted to perform CPR, so "he wouldn't look bad if he had woken up".
Also standing trial alongside Keiron Williams and the 14-year-old boy are Anthony Williams, 32, of Hillbrook Drive in Walton; Steven McInerney, 33, of Bridport Street in the city centre; Michael Williams, 24, of Carlake Grove in Walton; Callum Hewell, 21, of Stratton Road in Kirkby; Matthew Wynn, 25, of Mosslawn Road in Kirkby; Jack Knox, 20, of Oakdale Close in Kirkby and David Shelley, 26, of Chiltern Drive in Kirkby.
The trial continues.
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