Two men deny Halloween murder after teenager is stabbed to death in Doncaster
and live on Freeview channel 276
A Sheffield Crown Court trial heard on July 19 how Jordan Davies, aged 26, and Jacob Carroll, 27, have pleaded not guilty to murdering 18-year-old Joevester Takyi-Sarpong on October 31, last year, near to the derelict former Doncaster County Court building.
Prosecuting barrister Mark McCone said: “The prosecution say that both defendants followed Joe after he had walked past them in a park in Doncaster.
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Hide Ad“Both defendants followed him on bicycles. Joe tried to run from them but he was caught and stabbed twice – once in each leg - and bled to death at the scene where his body remained overnight.”
Mr McCone added Joe had been with a friend, Warren Flanagan, when they came across three or four men wearing Halloween masks one of which was described as the Vendetta movie mask.
The group started shouting, according to Mr McCone, and as Joe and Warren ran away Warren saw Joe being followed by two men on bicycles as he headed down the side of a garage.
Mr McCone added: “Warren did phone Joe several times. Joe eventually managed to answer his phone and Joe told Warren he had been stabbed.”
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Hide AdWarren outlined a route for police and Joe’s body was found on November 1, 2021, near the old Doncaster County Court after he had been seen by motorists nearly 12 hours following the alleged incident.
CCTV allegedly showed both defendants chasing Joe to the area where his body was found, according to Mr McCone, but the alleged murder was not captured on any footage.
Mr McCone claimed the defendants pursued Joe and he argued it does not matter whether it was one or both of them that allegedly stabbed him because they had been acting as a team.
He added Joe had climbed over locked gates at Catherine Street and the defendants had allegedly gained access via Trafford Way where they were out of view from CCTV cameras.
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Hide AdMr McCone said: “Both defendants are out of view from CCTV for one minute and 11 seconds before both moved away from the area where Joe was found dead. The two defendants cycled away from the area together.”
A post mortem examination confirmed Joe suffered a stab wound to his right leg severing an artery and a vein, as well as a stab wound to his left leg.
The court heard Joe died from blood loss and haemorrhaging from the stab wounds but mainly from the right leg.
A pathologist stated Joe would not have collapsed immediately so he could have been stabbed before he climbed the gate but his sickle cell condition may have hastened his collapse.
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Hide AdMr McCone said both defendants and Joe had been involved in the “drugs world” and the deceased had been found with cannabis in his system.
He added the defendants’ DNA was also found on bottles and cans in the vicinity and Carroll’s phone had been used in the area, according to a nearby mast.
Mr McCone said Davies contacted his ex-partner the day after the alleged murder and he allegedly asked her to meet him and bring clothing for himself and Carroll.
Following the defendants’ arrests, Davies and Carroll, both of no fixed abode, responded with no comment interviews.
But Mr McCone said Carroll, formerly of Beckett Road, Doncaster, allegedly told a prison officer he had struck Joe twice in the leg and once to his torso with a machete.
The trial continues.