St Mellons murder: Accused girl, 17, 'tried to stop stabbing'

A 17-year-old girl accused of murdering a man over a £500 drug debt has told a court she tried to stop the stabbing but was "pushed out of the way".

Anthony Winter, 32, was found stabbed in woods in St Mellons, Cardiff on 22 November, 2018.

The girl, a 17-year-old boy and 28-year-old John Junior Phillips all deny murder at Cardiff Crown Court.

Christopher James Jones has pleaded guilty to the charge.

The girl, who can not be named for legal reasons, said Mr Phillips, from Newport, ran a crack cocaine and heroin business, which Mr Jones, of St Mellons, and the 17-year-old boy worked for.

She told jurors she went to a flat in Newport with the three of them where Mr Phillips and the teenage boy "took it in turns" to punch the victim "like it was a game".

"There were pools of blood all over the living room," she said.

The girl said she had called Mr Winter's girlfriend for his bank details which she thought would stop the men attacking him.

"I was frightened. I didn't want to say anything.

"I thought the same as was happening to Anthony would happen to me," she told the court.

She said after she took a taxi with Mr Jones, the teenage boy and Mr Winter, the group followed a path through some parkland in St Mellons.

This was when the teenage boy punched Mr Winter and brought him to the floor, she said.

"James [Mr Jones] went over to Anthony - and I followed him. I saw him pull a knife out," she said.

The girl said she "didn't know" Mr Jones had a knife and "pulled him by his two arms telling him to stop - whole time it was happening".

"I tried to stop him. He didn't listen, he pushed me out of the way," she said.

She told the jury Mr Jones stabbed Mr Winter in the leg and the three of them; Mr Jones, the teenage boy and the girl ran away.

In an earlier hearing in the trial, Christopher Clee QC, prosecuting, said: "Even though the fatal blow was delivered by Jones, each of these three defendants played a part in the killing and are guilty of murder."

The trial continues.