Gordon Gault: Murder accused teen wrote rap about killing

A teenager accused of murdering a 14-year-old in a feud wrote rap lyrics about the killing, a court has heard.

Gordon Gault died in hospital six days after being fatally stabbed with a machete in Newcastle in November 2022.

Six youths aged 16 to 18 deny his murder and are on trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

One of them, Carlos Neto, 18, who wielded the weapon wrote a rap detailing it afterwards, prosecutors said.

The court has heard Mr Gault was killed as part of a feud between rival groups of youths featuring "tit for tat violence".

On 9 November the six defendants, who were linked to the Benwell area, went to Elswick to provoke a response from Gordon's group, the court heard.

During a short melee, Gordon was stabbed in the arm while riding pillion on an electric bike.

Jurors have been read rap lyrics found on Mr Neto's phone by police in which he allegedly said: "I'm a psychopath and I love it, murder case and I bust it."

He also allegedly wrote about swinging his "shank like a Samurai" and there was line saying "only through his arm and it came out his neck".

Jurors also saw a self-filmed video of Mr Neto smiling at the camera and repeatedly making a stabbing gesture.

A rap song was also found on the phone of co-accused Lawson Natty, 18, in which he reportedly discussed the killing of Gordon and the stabbing of a 17-year-old boy in the same brawl, whom all six defendants denied injuring.

The lyrics said: "Two got splashed in a day, we should have sent both of them to hell."

Mr Natty's alleged notes also said he had seen Mr Gault's mother "crying" on TV, and that he had been "nicked for M" but would not be going to jail.

Jurors also heard a statement from Gordon's mother Dionne Barrett who said her son had been involved in a "dispute" with another youth for two years.

She said the rival, who was not one of the six defendants, would send Gordon messages "every hour of every day" including rap videos about "smoking Gordon's dad's ashes".

After her son's death, the same youth posted a video online about Gordon being stabbed which made reference to where on the body he was injured and how the rapper had "respect for those that did it".

Ms Barrett said she shared the video on her Facebook page calling for the "horrible low-life" to be publicly exposed.

Messages were found on the phone of co-accused Benedict Mbala, 18, discussing the rapper's video and saying it would be a "perfect time" for it to be posted online.

Francis Osei-Appiah, a former gang member who serves as an expert on "street slang", said the notes found on the defendants' phones could be consistent with "drill rap", an artform that originated in Chicago and arrived in the UK in 2012.

He told jurors drill was similar to rap or hip hop but was "dark" and featured "bravado" and "bragging about violence" which could be a mix of "confessional" and fiction.

He said groups would use it for "promotion" to disrespect or "dis" their opponents or "ops", which would often escalate feuds to "stabbings, shootings or murders".

Mr Osei-Appiah, who was jailed for almost 17 years for gang-related activities in London, said he looked at the messages sent by the defendants and attempted to translate some of the words, although some of the meanings he knew from London could be different "up north".

Two of the defendants, aged 16 and 17, cannot be identified but the remaining four, all aged 18, are:

The trial continues.

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