Teen accused of murder says he was protecting himself

A teenager accused of murdering a father-of-seven by stabbing him in the leg in a car thought his alleged victim was going to run him over, a court has heard.

Colin Richards, 48, from Grangetown, Cardiff, was found unconscious in Ely in April last year.

Corey Gauci, 19, who denies murder, appeared in the dock at Cardiff Crown Court wearing a grey suit on Thursday, for his second day of giving evidence.

He told the jury he stabbed the victim once, to "protect himself", but did not plan to attack him.

Five other defendants deny violent disorder, assisting an offender and having possession of a bladed article.

The court previously heard Mr Richards sustained a 10cm (3.9in) deep wound which severed his femoral artery and vein and he bled to death within a minute, following a confrontation with a group wielding knives.

In cross-examination, David Elias, prosecuting, asked Mr Gauci about what happened near the Audi car, close to the cut-through to Heol y Berllan.

He said Mr Richards moved away from Mr Gauci, who had a knife in his hand, and got in the drivers' side of the vehicle.

Mr Elias said: "Once he turns away from you and gets into the vehicle he doesn't give off any threat."

Mr Gauci replied: "No he didn't turn his back on me, I was to the side of him.

"I thought he was going to run me over, it was all a panic."

Mr Elias added: "Why didn't you just go back up to the cut through with your friends? Why didn't you just walk away?"

Mr Gauci said: "I don't know, there were a lot of things going through my head."

He added he thought he was going to be run over, but could "not recall" if the car engine was ever turned on.

Mr Elias said: "Is it because you followed him to attack him?"

Mr Gauci replied: "No, he was going to attack me", adding he was "panicked, frightened".

Mr Elias said: "You went to attack him in the car didn't you?"

Mr Gauci said: "No."

Mr Elias asked the defendant how many times he stabbed Mr Richards, to which Mr Gauci replied "once", adding it was "to protect myself".

Mr Elias continued: "You were stabbing him a number of times."

Mr Gauci replied: "Just once."

When asked if he called for help, Mr Gauci said: "No, I was just panicking."

Mr Elias asked if the defendant was "just thinking about yourself", and Mr Gauci agreed he was.

The prosecutor then asked Mr Gauci why he "bagged up" every item of his clothing.

Mr Gauci said: "I don't know… they were all muddy and wet, and I didn't know what to do."

He denied it was "anything to do with the forensics that would be found on them".

The court was previously told Mr Richards was a friend of Christian Morgan, 36, who had received threatening messages from a former girlfriend, Noreen O'Driscoll, 29, and she was "getting her brothers or the boys to sort him out".

Mr Elias told the court that Ms O'Driscoll, along with James O'Driscoll, Corey Gauci, Rebecca Ross and Soraya Somersall, gathered near where Mr Morgan lived with "a plan to do him harm".

He asked Mr Gauci why he was dropped off near some woods in Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan, after the stabbing, but the defendant denied the suggestion it was because he wanted to dispose of the knife.

"I knew the woods, so I could get back to somewhere I knew, back to Jimmy's (James O'Driscoll)," he said.

The defendant initially denied he and Mr O'Driscoll "went on the run together" but later said they met up three days later in Stoke-on-Trent.

"Did you talk about what happened in Heol y Berllan?," asked Mr Elias, but Mr Gauci said he did not remember.

The court was told Mr Gauci had a previous conviction for possession of a prohibited item in prison, and two offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

When asked if he was "intrigued by knives", he admitted he "used to be" but "not any more".

However, he insisted he did not take a knife with him on the night of Colin Richards' death.

The barristers defending each of the other five co-accused confirmed their clients would not be giving evidence.

The trial continues.