Walsall stab victim Ben Morutare tried to help friend, court told
A teenager tried to protect a friend from a group of attackers before they turned on him, a murder jury heard.
Ben Morutare, aged 16, was punched and kicked on the floor after he tried to pull the group of 'hooded' men away from his friend, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
A witness, who gave evidence yesterday under a pseudonym, had been at the same party as Ben on the night he was fatally stabbed.
He described how a man known by the street name Dapa asked Ben's friend to go around a corner with him and then lunged at him with a punch.
He said a number of Dapa's friends then joined in with the attack kicking and punching Ben's friend on the floor.
The witness said: "Ben tried to get involved to stop them from beating up his friend. At that point they all turned their attention to Ben."
Ben, of Holden Crescent, Coalpool, Walsall, died just hours after being stabbed in the leg outside the Smethwick Home Guard and Old Comrades Club in Smethwick on July 28 last year. He had been invited to a friend's 17th birthday party at the club.
Andy Ly, aged 18, of Fulmer Walk, and Omar Robinson, 19, of Rann Close, both Ladywood, deny murder. They also deny violent disorder along with Jordan Campbell, 18, of Portland Road, Edgbaston; Kwamae Phillips, 18, of Gillott Road, Edgbaston; Tahj Mills, 18, of Waterside Street, West Bromwich; Tobias Blake, 20, of Kelsall Croft, Ladywood, and Aaron Parkins, 19, whose address cannot be reported for legal reasons.
The trial continues.
