Vape shop stab victim 'died screaming for help'

A 17-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed in a Solihull vape shop was "crying and screaming for help" after bursting into the store, a trial has heard.

Reuben Higgins had tried to stop his attackers getting into the shop before they overwhelmed the door, seconds before he he was stabbed and died at the scene in Marston Green, Birmingham Crown Court was told.

Abdurrahman Summers, 18, from Yardley, is on trial with two 15-year-old boys who can't be named because of their age. All three deny murdering Reuben, on 29 October last year.

The court previously heard a fourth suspect, who can't be named for legal reasons, is believed to have fled the country.

On Wednesday, the jury heard that on the day Reuben died the man working at the Vape Minimarket in Marston Green, was helping out the owner, a friend, as a favour.

Giving evidence to the court from behind a screen, the witness said he didn't usually work there but was alone when a "confused and frightened" Reuben ran into the shop and closed the door behind him, just before 18:30 GMT.

He recalled that Reuben was lying down and "trying hard" to keep the door shut with his body, before three or four men began striking the shop's entrance and trying to get in.

"He was crying and screaming for help," the witness said of Reuben. "He was lying behind the door. He was pushing back. He didn't want the door to be opened."

The man, who was speaking through a Sorani Kurdish interpreter, said a language barrier meant he didn't know exactly what was being said, but the group appeared to be shouting and swearing.

"They were very aggressive," he told the court.

The worker said he was "very afraid" and told the group to go away.

But the attackers eventually overwhelmed the door, he said, before picking Reuben up by the back of his clothing and moving him to the corner of the shop to attack him.

"He seemed very afraid of the situation," the witness said.

"I think he was asking, 'Don't hit me'."

The witness said he couldn't recall whether there were three or four men who attacked Reuben but added they all came into the shop, with nobody remaining outside.

He explained the attack happened "very quickly" and he didn't see any weapons or objects.

But he said he saw the men moving their hands in a stabbing motion with a closed fist, attacking Reuben until he fell to the floor.

"I saw he was bleeding on his thigh and then he was holding his chest as well by his hand," the witness said.

"He was shouting. He was screaming and he was in pain. It seems to me he was asking for help."

The shopworker said the tallest attacker was most the aggressive during the assault, and came back into the shop shortly afterwards to look for a phone he had dropped during the attack.

Various people from outside tried to come and help shortly after the fatal attack, he added, before ambulances and police arrived to help Reuben with his injuries.

Talbir Singh KC, defending one of the 15-year-olds, questioned the store worker's memory.

He suggested a bearded man, whom Reuben had been seen in the shop with earlier that day, was the main attacker rather than the tallest of the men.

"I'm going to suggest to you that the bearded man was making a thrusting motion," he said.

"The bearded man was the most aggressive man in that shop wasn't he?"

The shopworker replied all of the men were doing a thrusting motion, including the bearded man.

"He was aggressive but the tallest one was the more aggressive one," the shop keeper replied.

The trial continues.

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