A teenager who died after being attacked with a Rambo-style knife while playing a video game with a friend "did not have a chance", a court has heard.
17-year-old Tristan Kerr had been playing Fortnite with his friend Ieuan Crane when he was fatally attacked at Mr Crane's house in the old mining village of Abertridwr, Caerphilly, on Thursday, February 5.
Witness describes the attack
Giving evidence at the trial in Newport Crown Court on Monday, Mr Crane described the moment men entered his home before fatally injuring Tristan Kerr. He said he and Tristan spent a lot of time together as Mr Crane was looking after Tristan's lurcher greyhound cross dog.
Georgie Mears, of Cavendish Close, Thornhill, Cardiff, who is accused of stabbing Tristan with a Rambo-style knife, denies murder.
The 19-year-old is in the dock alongside Connor Palfrey, 24, of Aberfawr Terrace, Abertridwr, Ricardo Elliot, 27, whose address was given as HMP Parc, and Elexi Manny, 24, of no fixed abode, who all travelled to Abertridwr with Mears on the day of Tristan's death. They all deny murder.
'He didn't even have a chance to react'
Mr Crane, giving evidence, said Palfrey first entered his house through the front door and greeted him and his friends who were in the living room playing video games. He said Mears "snuck in behind him then ran at Tristan who was on the settee". In the attack that went on for around two minutes, Tristan was stabbed in the heart and the lung.
Mr Crane said: "Georgie ran at Tristan who was on the settee. Tristan didn't even have a chance to get up. I didn't know he had been stabbed, there was no blood or anything."
"I thought he was punching him. I didn't see the knife until after the fourth time. I jumped in and gripped his wrist but he had already stabbed him before that. I thought I had stopped him from getting stabbed but I had just stopped him from being stabbed more."
"Tristan didn't even have a chance to react. It happened like that," Mr Crane told the court as he clicked his fingers. "He didn't have a chance to do anything," he continued. "I thought I had saved him, I thought I had saved his life."
The court heard that Palfrey had armed himself with a wooden stick and was threatening Mr Crane to release his grip on Mears. He did, then both Mears and Palfrey left the property from the front door, the court heard.
Final moments and aftermath
Tristan had already fled out of the backdoor of Mr Crane's house with his friend Conah Davies, and through the back garden. Earlier in the trial the court was shown ring doorbell footage where Tristan could be seen leaving the house at Lower Francis Street while trying to steady himself on a bin before he eventually collapsed beside a parked car.
Tristan collapsed two more times, bumping his head as his legs went from underneath him. Mr Davies ran back to the house to get a phone and upon returning he held Tristan in his lap, rubbing his hair and trying to reassure him, but he stopped communicating. His last words to his friend were: "I love you bro, You're a goodun you are."
Mr Crane was asked about an argument that had occurred between Tristan and Connor Palfrey before the incident, but said that it was only "minor" and that as far as he was aware, "they had squashed the beef."
The court heard that in a police search of Mr Crane's property following the incident, a large quantity of cannabis was found in the freezer as well as a shotgun cartridge and weighing scales. Mr Crane said he smoked cannabis but had forgotten about the drugs in the freezer. He said he did not "knowingly" allow any of his friends to deal drugs from his home.
The witness said he was "not sure" if Tristan was dealing drugs at the time of his death. The court heard that on the day of the attack, Tristan had sent out a snapchat message shortly before 4pm which said "flake".
Chris Rees KC, representing Mears, asked Mr Crane if Tristan was dealing drugs from his house. Mr Crane said he had no knowledge of anyone drug dealing from his address.
Mr Crane was then asked if he thought Tristan had been attacked because he was trying to "rob Georgie Mears of drugs." He said that "still to this day" he does not know why Tristan was attacked. He added: "I don't know why you think I'm in the know. I had no clue what this was about. I thought it was about a girl."
Mr Crane told the court that he did not like Palfrey. He said Palfrey had been to his house about "three to five times" prior to the incident, but he remembered thinking "'this guy is bad news'".
Mr Crane recalled how on one occasion, around four months before Tristan was killed, Palfrey had travelled to his house "ballied up (wearing a balaclava), looking for Tristan". On another occasion, Mr Crane said Palfrey had travelled to his house and started "chopsing" and was "kicking the door in".
The trial at Newport Crown Court, which is expected to last between four and six weeks, continues.
