The trial of two men accused of murdering a burglar after seeing him targeting one of their homes via a Ring doorbell alert is set to continue this week.
Karl Townsend and half-brother Jamie Cunningham are accused of arming themselves with knives and going round to Townsend’s Halewood home after receiving notification of a break in on October 29 last year. Prosecutors say Townsend shouted at three intruders, one of whom was Brophy, to get out of his home, before stabbing him to his face and head.
Prosecutors say one of those stabs through Mr Brophy's eye left a broken blade embedded in his brain. They allege Townsend and Cunningham left the scene but returned shortly afterwards, when Townsend then stabbed the 31-year-old in his jugular vein. Both men, of Beechwood Avenue, deny murder and possession of a bladed article.
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What have jurors heard so far?
The court has so far only heard part of the prosecution arguments in the case, with Richard Pratt QC presenting the prosecution’s opening statement on Monday before evidence from a range of witnesses was called throughout the week. Mr Pratt told the jury that Townsend, who lived at his Beechwood Avenue home with his partner and their child, was alerted to someone trying to burgle his house after his phone notified him of activity being registered on the Ring doorbell set up there.
Mr Pratt said Townsend then returned home with Cunningham and challenged the three intruders in his home, one of whom was Brophy. Yet after a scuffle inside the home, he said Townsend then targeted Brophy outside and knifed him in the neck, causing catastrophic blood loss.
Townsend later told neighbours and police officers he feared his partner and their child were in the home and he worried for their safety, hence his attack on Mr Brophy. The prosecution don’t accept that explanation and say Townsend was fully aware his family were not in danger when he allegedly inflicted catastrophic wounds on Brophy.
Mr Pratt said: "The prosecution case is that this was not a case of a householder in a state of fear and panic, reacting in a moment of terror to what he believed to be real danger. This was a brutal and ruthless killing, whether it be out of revenge or punishment, of a defenceless man."
Jurors were later shown extensive CCTV footage of various points of the incident. That included clips from the Ring doorbell fitted on Townsend’s home.
Two camera angles can be seen from the footage, one focused on the front door and another placed to the side of the house. Video from the camera placed at the side shows Mr Brophy and two unidentified men climbing over a side fence before breaking into the property at the back.
The one at the front of the house then shows Townsend arrive at the property with Cunningham only a few seconds later. They confront the three men in the home and Townsend can be heard shouting “hey, what are you doing lad, get out”, before going into the property. Mr Pratt said earlier in the trial that one of the intruders at this stage appeared to be armed with a knife.
There are then the sounds of scuffling and fighting inside the home. Brophy can be seen running out the side of the property and becoming separated from the two men he was with while shouting “I can’t see, I can’t see”. The prosecution allege that it is during this first scuffle that Townsend inflicted the stab wound around Mr Brophy’s eye.
Merseyside Police’s John Smedley also showed jurors footage from other houses as Townsend appears to follow Mr Brophy and confront him outside. Mr Smedley said: “From listening to the previous videos I ascertained that the voice was Jordan Brophy. He says ‘It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me. I didn’t f***ing…’ and then it becomes inaudible.”
Mr Smedley said Townsend can then be heard asking “who was it, who was it?” before he sees Brophy again and starts shouting at him. Summarising what is allegedly said by Townsend in the next piece of footage, Mr Smedley said: “The first sentence is ‘Just seen you in my house. Hey Jordan, you know what you’re doing, robbing my house. Tell me lad or I’ll kill you.”
No footage of the incident outside, where Townsend allegedly inflicted a catastrophic wound to Mr Brophy’s jugular vein, was shown to the jury. However, they did hear harrowing evidence from neighbours who witnessed the alleged final scuffle between Townsend and Mr Brophy and who tried to save the 31-year-old’s life after he suffered a knife wound to his jugular vein.
Jennifer Burns, who lives in a neighbouring house on the road, recounted in a recorded police interview how she heard Mr Brophy ask ‘Am I dying?’ as she tried to stem blood coming from his wounds. Ms Burns had been cooking dinner for her children when she hear the commotion outside and saw Mr Brophy injured on the street.
She asked her kids to bring her towels to try to stop his blood loss but he quickly lost consciousness and died. The coming days will see the prosecution conclude its arguments before lawyers representing both defendants put their case before the jury, likely starting at some point this week.
(Proceeding)
