Murder accused tried to "scare" victim off but did not attack him during fatal car park incident, jury told
A man accused of murder has admitted being present during the fatal stabbing, claiming he did not attack the victim but made efforts to “scare him off.”
Lee Davies died from a single stab wound to his heart 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, Rotherham town centre. The three defendants deny Mr Davies’ murder and have been on trial at Sheffield Crown Court since last month.
Opening the Crown’s case against the three defendants, prosecutor Craig Hassall KC told the jury of six men and six women 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 told the jury 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 alleges that one of the the three defendants, most likely Mr Welsh, produced a knife and stabbed Mr Davies, as one of the other two men accused of his murder shouted “stab him.”
Murder accused gives evidence to the jury
Jake Shaw, aged 27, took to the witness box to give evidence yesterday (April 8, 2025), and was asked by his barrister Rupert Doswell KC about the fatal incident.
“It’s been suggested you were kicking, punching, stabbing at Mr Davies with glass, were you doing that?” asked Mr Doswell.
Mr Jake Shaw replied: “No, that’s not correct.”
Mr Doswell continued: “Did you have anything in your hands?”.
“No,” replied Mr Jake Shaw.
Mr Doswell also asked Mr Jake Shaw about whether he saw “anyone with a knife,” to which he responded: “The whole night, I didn’t see anyone with a knife, and if it was there, I didn’t see it.”
The jury has previously heard how shards of broken glass were allegedly used during the course of the fight, from two Bombay Sapphire gin bottles that had been consumed by members of the group that night.
Mr Jake Shaw described how, in the moments preceding the incident, he witnessed Mr Davies becoming “agitated and irate” after Mr Welsh refused a number of requests to share some of the gin from the bottle he was holding, which had about one-quarter left.
Altercations broke out before fatal incident, claims murder accused
A number of altercations ensued between Mr Welsh and Mr Davies, claimed Mr Jake Shaw, including one in an underpass near St Ann’s Roundabout where he came across the group by chance around “15 to 20 minutes” before the fatal incident.
He suggested the aggression was focused between Mr Davies and Mr Welsh, whose girlfriend, Toni Crane, was also present.
Mr Jake Shaw claimed that, at points, both he and Ms Crane made attempts to hold Mr Welsh back, and Mr Martin Shaw tried to hold Mr Davies back.
He described how, during the moments that followed as the group moved to the car park, Ms Crane tried to calm things down between Mr Welsh and Mr Davies. This came, claimed Mr Jake Shaw, after Mr Davies said he was going to take the bottle of gin and made a number of attempts to snatch it from Mr Welsh.
“Toni’s trying to stop him, and is saying: ‘Please stop’ and Lee Davies is walking around and attacking us and saying he’s going to knock him [Mr Welsh] out.”
Ms Doswell asked: “Were you saying anything to Lee Davies or Simon Welsh?”
Mr Jake Shaw replied: “I was saying ‘chill out’. Personally, I’m not addicted to drink like these are, so I thought it was pointless to have a fight over a little bit of drink.”
“Lee was that persistent, he was trying everything in his power [to get the gin bottle].”
“I told him to f**k off, and leave us alone.”
Mr Jake Shaw has admitted to being addicted to crack cocaine and heroin, for which he was on a methadone prescription at the time of the incident, and taking both Class A drugs, along with cannabis, on the evening of the fatal incident.
“We were supposed to be friends”
When asked what was going through his mind as the group were congregating in the car park, following previous altercations involving Mr Welsh and Mr Davies, Mr Jake Shaw said: “I could see what was unravelling, I thought Toni might be able to talk him [Mr Davies] down, and that’s why I told Simon to stand back with me. I didn’t want to fight, we were supposed to be friends.”
As CCTV was played to the jury, Mr Doswell asked Mr Jake Shaw to describe “what’s happening”.
He responded: “For some reason he was trying to attack Simon, Martin and myself…I’m trying to stop them from fighting, and then at some time he’s started getting agitated towards me…he says he’s going to kill us all.”
Mr Jake Shaw told the jury that Mr Davies, was by this point, “circling” around them in the car park, and he subsequently went on to punch Mr Martin Davies twice and Mr Welsh “three or four times.”
When asked where the punches on Mr Welsh were landing, Mr Jake Shaw responded “Some were connecting, to just about everywhere but the torso and downwards.”
Murder accused wanted gin bottle to be used to “scare” victim off, jury told
He told the jury that he subsequently picked one of the gin bottles up, which appeared to be “in tact” but a fragment of it subsequently broke off.
“What was the purpose?” asked Mr Doswell.
Mr Jake Shaw responded: “It seemed to scare Lee, and seemed to have put him on the back foot, and I picked the bottle up and thought it might be able to scare him off.”
Asked Mr Doswell: “Simon Welsh approaches you and we’ve heard in evidence he accepts he took that off you. What words were exchanged?”
“My exact words were: ‘Use it to scare him off, scare him off a bit.’”
Mr Jake Shaw said he then saw Mr Welsh throw the bottle at Mr Davies, and saw it “graze his chest.”
Mr Doswell asked: “Did there come a point where you realised Lee was injured,” to which Mr Jake Shaw replied: “At some point I see him bleeding…I knew there was a significant amount of blood coming from his chest.”
Judge Sarah Wright interjected: “At which point?”
“As soon as Simon chucks the bottle, as soon as it grazes his chest,” replied Mr Jake Shaw.
Mr Jake Shaw admitted subsequently running off, and said he did it because he “panicked, got scared and threw my clothes in the river.”
Asked Mr Doswell: “It might be suggested that if you thought you did nothing wrong, why did you run?”
Mr Jake Shaw replied: “Everyone else was running, my instinct was to get out of there.”
When questioned about why he responded to some of the questions in his police interview with “no comment,” Mr Jake Shaw said his previous legal counsel - who he is no longer represented by - had advised him to either answer “no comment” or “I can’t remember.”
Cross-examination
Under cross-examination, Mr Hassall asked Mr Jake Shaw about his claims in police interview that in addition to crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis, he had consumed a quarter of a bottle of gin, which, he said, because he only drinks once in a blue moon had rendered him “p***ed” and unable to “remember much” of what had happened.
Mr Jake Shaw told the jury he did answer truthfully when he told police he could not remember.
Mr Hassall suggested he now “remembers a lot,” enough to be able to recall what different people had been saying; to which Mr Jake Shaw replied by saying that once he was shown the CCTV “it came back” to him.
“The reason you are now claiming to remember certain words and phrases, is that you’ve had 10 months to reflect on the prosecution case - it’s been served on you - and what suits your case,” said Mr Hassall.
Mr Jake Shaw replied: “Incorrect.”
Richard Thyne KC, representing Mr Martin Shaw, aged 46, of no fixed abode, said Mr Martin Shaw would not be called to give evidence, and did not present any evidence on his behalf.
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.
Post-mortem examination
During the trial opening, Mr Hassall said 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 previously heard.
Not guilty pleas
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.
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