Jodie Chesney, a 17-year-old girl, was killed in a "terrible and cowardly" stabbing during a drug turf war, the Old Bailey has heard. The prosecution told jurors that she may not have been the intended target of the attack, which took place while she was playing music and smoking cannabis with friends in a park in Harold Hill, east London, on 1 March.
Four defendants – Manuel Petrovic, 20, and Svenson Ong-a-kwie, 19, both from Romford, and two boys aged 16 and 17 – deny murder. The court was told that two people emerged from the dark in the park, and the taller of them swung his right arm at Jodie's back, inflicting a deep wound. She was left bleeding heavily as the attackers fled seconds later. Her boyfriend, Eddie Coyle, 18, caught her as she fell and held her hand, crying and screaming at her to stay awake.
The first emergency call was made at 21:22 GMT, with police arriving within 13 minutes. An ambulance set off for the Royal London Hospital, but doctors in a car met it halfway at an Esso Garage in Gants Hill, where they attempted to resuscitate Jodie on the forecourt. "Despite the best efforts of all concerned, there had been no cardiac activity for some time. Jodie was pronounced dead at 22:26," prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told the jury.
Mr Aylett said none of Jodie's friends had any idea who was responsible, but the defendants were involved in drug supply, and one or more of her friends had previously bought cannabis from them. "The drug-dealing world is one of turf wars, rivalries and pathetic claims for 'respect'," he said. However, he stressed there was "nothing to suggest that Jodie was involved in the supply of drugs or that she might have upset anyone".
He added: "If the prosecution are right in saying that Jodie Chesney was an entirely blameless individual who got caught up in some quarrel between drug dealers, then her murder was the terrible but predictable consequence of an all-too casual approach to the carrying - and using - of knives."
The case progressed after a witness, Andrei Mihai, reported seeing two males getting into a stationary black Vauxhall Corsa near the park and hearing screaming. A black Corsa registered to Mr Petrovic was later found abandoned about two miles away. Following his arrest, Mr Petrovic admitted driving to Harold Hill with a friend and two others who went into the park to collect money and drugs, but denied knowing the pair were armed beforehand.
