Lee Davies: Jury retire to consider verdict in trial of three men accused of Rotherham car park murder
The jury in the trial of three men accused of murdering an associate in Rotherham car park retired to consider their verdict a few moments ago.
Lee Davies died from a single stab wound to his chest in the early hours of Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
Martin Shaw, Jake Shaw and Simon Welsh are all accused of murdering Mr Davies, aged 38, in an incident in a car park off Drummond Street in Rotherham town centre. The three defendants deny murdering Mr Davies, and have been on trial at Sheffield Crown Court for the last three weeks.
The jury of five men and six women were sent out to consider their verdict moments ago at 11.06am, after Judge Sarah Wright concluded her summing up this morning (Monday, April 14, 2025).
It follows closing speeches from prosecution and defence counsel on Thursday and Friday last week.
Judge Wright told the jury members she can only “accept unanimous verdicts at this stage” as they were sent out to deliberate.
Opening the Crown’s case against the three defendants, prosecutor Craig Hassall KC has previously told the jury that at the time of the alleged murder the three defendants and Mr Davies were known to each other, and were all “drug users who would regularly spend time in Rotherham town centre.”
Mr Hassall said an eye witness has suggested the fatal incident arose out of an argument over a £10 bag of crack cocaine, resulting in a “two-sided” fight, “with the three defendants on one side, and Mr Davies on the other.”
Mr Hassall alleged that one of the the three defendants, most likely Mr Welsh, produced a knife and stabbed Mr Davies, as one of the others shouted “stab him.”
The murder weapon has never been recovered, but forensic pathologist Charlie Wilson concluded, following a post-mortem examination, that Mr Davies died from a stab wound to his chest, which is believed to have been caused by a bladed article approximately 10 centimetres in length.
Mr Wilson suggested the precision with which the fatal wound was caused, along with its depth, are indicative of an incision caused by a knife of that length. He suggested a more ‘irregular and jagged’ wound would be present, had it been caused by a shard of broken glass. He deemed suggestions that the fatal stab wound could have been caused by broken glass thrown at Mr Davies as ‘totally implausible,’ the court has heard.
Each of the defendants deny being the one to stab Mr Davies, and each claims they did not see a knife at any point during the night of the fatal incident.
Mr Welsh, aged 38, of Doncaster Road, East Dene, Rotherham, has admitted throwing shards of glass from a broken gin bottle at Mr Davies, while Mr Jake Shaw, aged 27, of Canklow Road, Canklow, admits handing Mr Welsh a shard of broken glass.
They both claim their intention with the broken glass was to “scare” Mr Davies, who, they allege, was the aggressor.
Mr Martin Shaw, aged 46, of no fixed abode, claims to have been a “peace maker,” as part of which, he made attempts to hold Mr Davies back during skirmishes between he and Mr Welsh in the minutes preceding the stabbing.
Mr Welsh, aged 38, of Doncaster Road, East Dene, Rotherham, also faces an additional charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, which he denies. The assault is alleged to have taken place in the same covered Tesco car park, off Drummond Street, around seven months earlier on November 6, 2023.
He is accused of attacking a man by the name of Michael Williams, who has since died from cancer.
Mr Williams with a fractured skull, along with a fracture to his nasal bone and a periorbital haematoma, more commonly referred to as a black eye.
Prior to the jury being sworn in, Mr Welsh pleaded guilty to a lesser offence of causing Mr Williams grievous bodily harm without intent, but this has been rejected by prosecutors.
Mr Welsh, Mr Jake Shaw and Mr Martin Shaw all deny murdering Mr Davies.
Mr Welsh also denies a further charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The trial continues.