Lee Davies: Trio accused of Rotherham car park murder fought with victim over £10 bag of crack, jury told
A 38-year-old Rotherham man was allegedly murdered in a supermarket car park in a row over a £10 bag of crack cocaine, a jury has been told.
- Rotherham man Lee Davies suffered a fatal chest wound in supermarket car park altercation in June 2024
- Three Rotherham man deny murder
- Eye-witness claims the three defendants and Mr Davies began arguing over a £10 bag of crack cocaine
- Clothing belonging to the defendants was thrown into the River Don, but has subsequently been retrieved
- Two of the three defendants were found to have DNA matching that of Mr Davies on their clothing
- One of the defendants also faces an additional GBH charge alleged to have been carried out in the same car park seven months earlier
Lee Davies died from a single stab wound to his chest, which pierced his heart, in the early hours of Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
Martin Shaw, Jake Shaw and Simon Welsh have today (Tuesday, March 25, 2025) gone on trial at Sheffield Crown Court accused of Mr Davies’ murder - a charge all three defendants deny.
Supermarket car park was scene of fatal attack, jury told
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’.
The scene of the fatal fight involving Mr Davies, along with Mr Welsh, Mr Jake Shaw, aged 27, of Canklow Road, Canklow, and Mr Martin Shaw, was the car park off Drummond Street near Tesco in Rotherham town centre, Mr Hassall said.
Mr Hassall continued: “Once there, Lee Davies removed his top again and a physical fight broke out between all four men. It appears the fight was two-sided, with the three defendants on one side, and Mr Davies on the other.
“The prosecution do not deny Lee Davies was a willing participant in the fight, but as it turned out, he was outnumbered and outgunned.”
Gin bottles, previously consumed by the group in the hours preceding the fight, were smashed and thrown at Mr Davies during the course of the incident, eye-witness Darren Morris has claimed.
But it is the knife produced by one of the three defendants during the altercation which prosecutors say was used to inflict the fatal stab wound that cost Mr Davies his life.
“One of the three defendants - most likely, we say, Simon Welsh - produced a knife,” Mr Hassall said..
“One of the two defendants shouted: ‘Stab him’; and that is precisely what Welsh did.”
‘Difficult to identify which defendant did precisely what during fight’
He continued: “It’s difficult to identify from the prosecution evidence which defendant did precisely what during the fight, and which of them precisely struck the fatal blow from the knife - although we do say the most likely candidate, considering all the evidence is Simon Welsh.
“We do say, however, that each of the defendants either inflicted the fatal blow, assisted the person who did, or encouraged the person who did. Each of them intending that at least really serious harm should be caused to Lee Davies.”
Mr Hassall said participating in the violence leading up to the fatal, including throwing punches, could constitute ‘assisting’.
“Encouragement could not be clearer than the person shouting - presumably at the person holding the knife - ‘stab him’,”continued Mr Hassall.
In addition, he said that for the defendants to be guilty of murder, the prosecution does not need to prove they set out to kill Mr Davies, but simply that they intended to cause him ‘really serious bodily harm’.
Defendants and stabbing victim allegedly caught on various CCTV cameras in Rotherham town centre
Mr Hassall told the jury that the group of four men were ‘filmed by various CCTV cameras in the Rotherham town centre area before, during, and indeed after, the fatal assault upon Mr Davies’ and that they will be shown the footage during the course of the three-week trial.
Mr Morris, who the jury are set to hear evidence from tomorrow, says he thought the four men were ‘arguing over a £10 bag of crack cocaine’.
Jurors have been told that Mr Morris was known to Mr Davies - who he referred to as ‘Welshy’ due to his Welsh heritage; along with Mr Welsh who he confusingly referred to as ‘Walshy’.
Mr Morris claims to have witnessed the fatal incident, and his account - as outlined by Mr Hassall - is that he ‘Lee was against the others’ in the fight.
“He saw Lee being attacked with bottles…he then saw Walsh, his name for the defendant Welsh, produce a knife. He heard one of the defendants shout: ‘stab him,’ and then saw ‘Walshy’ move towards Mr Davies and stab him in the stomach,” said Mr Hassall.
The fatal attack was also witnessed by a second man, Danyal Hussain, who was present in the car park in his silver motor vehicle with a friend.
Mr Hussain’s account, says Mr Hassall, is that he saw a topless man being ‘pushed about by three males’ who he also observed ‘punching at the male and throwing glass bottles’ at him.
“He kept trying to back away, but they kept coming towards him…he ran over, holding his chest. Mr Hussain asked him if he wanted them to call the police or an ambulance and he replied: ‘Watch what I’ll do next’ and then ran towards the group.”
“Mr Hussain decided to call 999 in any event, concerned that things were going to escalate and indeed they did.”
“He saw the topless man running towards the car, holding his stomach…he noticed there was blood coming from his stomach.”
Mr Hussain says he subsequently witnessed Mr Davies collapse by the passenger side of his vehicle, as the three other males left the scene.
Murder weapon has never been recovered
Paramedics called to the scene worked to save Mr Davies’ life, and he was rushed to Sheffield’s Northern General hospital; but despite the best efforts of the medics involved he was pronounced dead at 2.03am.
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.
Jurors were also told that Mr Davies did have an injury to his eyebrow which could have been caused by broken glass, however, along with injuries to his hands which are consistent with defensive wounds and Mr Davies being involved with a ‘fist fight’.
DNA analysis
In the aftermath of the fatal incident, Mr Welsh and Mr Jake Shaw are alleged to have travelled to Eastwood Park where they changed their clothes, before throwing items of clothing ‘belonging to all three defendants’ into the River Don.
The items of clothing thrown into the river, along with a gilet said to have been discarded by Mr Welsh were subsequently retrieved, Mr Hassall said.
DNA analysis subsequently revealed a drop of blood found on Mr Welsh’s trainer to match that of Mr Davies, and a further blood sample matching Mr Davies’ DNA was also found on a pair of tracksuit bottoms belonging to Mr Welsh, the jury have been told.
Mr Hassall said an explanation for the blood found on Mr Welsh’s tracksuit bottoms, as provided by forensic scientist Michelle Walton, is that he was in ‘close proximity to Lee Davies once he started to bleed freely’.
In addition, some blood matching Mr Davies’ DNA profile was also found on tracksuit bottoms, which allegedly belong to Mr Martin Shaw.
Ms Walton’s findings in relation to that item of clothing are that the ‘wearer had little direct contact with Lee Davies once he was injured,’ the jury have been told.
Additional GBH charge faced by Mr Welsh
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 Hassall said the attack upon Mr Williams also arose out of a ‘rather trivial altercation’, during which he threw ‘two vicious kicks’ whilst Mr Williams was unconscious on the tarmac of the car park.
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 this morning, 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 Hassall explained: “What else could he have intended when he threw two really hard punches at the head of a man who was already unconscious in that supermarket car park?”
Mr Welsh, Mr Jake Shaw and Mr Martin Shaw, aged 46, of no fixed abode, all deny murdering Mr Davies.
Mr Welsh also denies a further charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The trial continues.