Murder accused had 'unhealthy interest' in knives

A teenager who had an "unhealthy interest" in knives grinned before fatally stabbing an 18-year-old man through the heart with a Rambo-style knife, a murder trial has heard.

Derby Crown Court was told that Charles Hartle, now 18 but 17 at the time, allegedly carried out an "utterly pointless killing" when he attacked Noah Smedley on a dark street in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, on 28 December.

Jurors heard the defendant, of Station Road, Stanley, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article in a public place but denies murder.

Prosecutor Adrian Langdale KC said Mr Hartle carried the weapon to show others he was a "big man".

He told the jury of seven women and five men: "On December 28 2024, you will have been getting over Christmas and preparing for the new year - Charles Hartle was going out on the streets armed with a knife.

"He moved towards Noah, he grinned or smiled before deliberately aiming for and stabbing him in the chest.

"There is no dispute that this lethal weapon was in the hands of that young man Charlie Hartle."

Mr Langdale added the Crown Prosecution Service will say Noah Smedley did "absolutely nothing wrong" and was not armed himself.

"The Crown will say it was an utterly pointless killing other than this defendant's unhealthy interest with knives and the fact he was, the Crown will say, a habitual carrier of knives.

"You will hear that the defendant was planning on meeting up with three of his friends who would later witness, and be feet away from, the murder," Mr Langdale said.

The court was told Mr Hartle and his friends arranged to meet Mr Smedley, who arrived at the scene on an electric scooter and sold them cannabis before the fatal attack.

Mr Langdale continued: "This defendant deliberately hangs back at the back of the group, whilst the others are chatting with Noah and he gives them the cannabis.

"All seemingly, in these matters of seconds, are in good spirits - there is no animosity.

"This defendant will pull his balaclava down over his face, he moves forward in the group to get closer to Noah and reaches into the back of his tracksuit.

"Hartle immediately takes one stride forward and in the same motion thrusts the knife forward and through Noah's heart."

The jury heard Hartle and his friends ran from the scene leaving Mr Smedley "staggering and bleeding profusely".

The knife penetrated the right ventricle of Mr Smedley's heart and his left lung causing internal bleeding and his lung to collapse, the prosecutor said.

Mr Langdale told the court: "The defendant raises the idea of self-defence claiming to the police he had recently been threatened by others with knives. As a result of that he decided to take this knife out.

"The Crown say this is an entirely false account, instead it was the defendant who routinely carried a Rambo knife... and did so for the kudos and bravado."

CCTV of the group was shown to the jury, including the moment Mr Smedley was fatally stabbed with a knife described to be "eight to nine inches" long.

The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, continues

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