Teenage stab victim 'asked drivers for help'

A teenage stab victim tried to flag down a car “in a state of desperation and sheer fear” after receiving a fatal wound, a court has heard.

Darrian Williams, 16, died after being stabbed in Rawnsley Park in Easton, Bristol at around 18:00 GMT on 14 February.

Two 16-year-old boys, who cannot be named because of their age, are on trial for his murder at Bristol Crown Court.

Darrian knocked on the windows of several cars queuing at traffic lights in a bid to get someone to take him to hospital, the jury heard on Tuesday.

One driver, Karen Erasmus, said in a statement that she had been waiting at the lights at the Lawrence Hill roundabout when she spotted Darrian.

“I saw a young lad in the middle of the traffic,” she said. “He was walking between the cars in front of me.

"He approached the second vehicle, then went to the car in the front on my right. He seemed to want to get in the vehicle.”

Ms Erasmus continued: “He looked frightened and desperate - as if he was running away from someone.

“He kept pointing to his back, I could see the back of his coat was drenched in blood.”

The witness, whose statement was read to court by prosecutor Michael Burrows KC, said she saw drivers shake their heads when Darrian tried to get in their cars.

“He had a look of desperation and sheer fear on his face - he looked at me and then at my rear car door, he turned around and pointed to his back,” she said.

“I could see the back of his hooded top was absolutely drenched in blood. It was so drenched I could see the top was sticking to him.”

Ms Erasmus said she had been too scared to allow Darrian to enter her car in case he or the people who had attacked him posed a threat to her young son.

But she pulled over and called the emergency services.

The victim eventually forced his way into the cab of a van being driven by Svetlozar Stanchev, a Bulgarian national with limited English.

“He dived into my van - he said ‘start driving, I’m dying, I will die',” Mr Stanchev said.

“At first I didn’t know what he was on about, then he turned his back towards me and I saw it was covered in blood."

Mr Stanchev described Darrian as “frustrated and angry”, adding: “He started kicking and striking the dashboard with his hands and legs.”

Mr Stanchev said he could hear a “whistling” sound coming from the victim’s chest, and that he had tried to find a police station before driving to a Bulgarian supermarket where he knew the staff spoke English.

Shop staff and other members of the public tried to perform first aid before the emergency services arrived.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, Darrian died on the pavement outside the supermarket on West Street, Old Market.

His mother rushed to the scene, the jury heard, but was unable to reach her son before he died.

The trial was previously told that Darrian is thought to have been the victim of gang rivalry.

Moments before the attack, it is believed there was a verbal confrontation in which the postcodes "1-6" and "2s" were mentioned, numbers which are linked to gangs in Bristol, the jury were told.

The "1-6" gang is associated with the Fishponds, Hillfields and Oldbury Court areas.

The jury also heard that in the early hours of 15 February, one of the defendants said in a SnapChat conversation: “If man’s wanted, I’m going to turn myself in. No point hiding.”

In a second message, he said: “I’ll get caught eventually.”

One of the defendants has accepted causing the fatal wound, but claims he did so in self-defence, the jury heard.

The second claims that he did not have a knife and did not intend to cause Darrian harm.

The trial continues.

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